CVE-2021-21972: Used in ransomware campaigns — CISA KEV
The vSphere Client (HTML5) contains a remote code execution vulnerability in a vCenter Server plugin. A malicious actor with network access to port 443 may exploit this issue to execute commands with unrestricted privileges on the underlying operating system that hosts vCenter Se
CISA KEV — Actively Exploited
The vSphere Client (HTML5) contains a remote code execution vulnerability in a vCenter Server plugin
Vendor / Product
— / VMware / vCenter Server
CVSS / EPSS
10.0 CISA · EPSS 99.52%
01What CISA says about this vulnerability
The vSphere Client (HTML5) contains a remote code execution vulnerability in a vCenter Server plugin. A malicious actor with network access to port 443 may exploit this issue to execute commands with unrestricted privileges on the underlying operating system that hosts vCenter Server. This affects VMware vCenter Server (7.x before 7.0 U1c, 6.7 before 6.7 U3l and 6.5 before 6.5 U3n) and VMware…
02Required action — verbatim from CISA
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
03Notes & references
- packetstormsecurity.com — http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/161590/VMware-vCenter-Server-7.0-Arbitrary-…
- packetstormsecurity.com — http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/161695/VMware-vCenter-Server-File-Upload-Re…
- packetstormsecurity.com — http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/163268/VMware-vCenter-6.5-6.7-7.0-Remote-Co…
- www.vmware.com — https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2021-0002.html
- packetstormsecurity.com — http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/161590/VMware-vCenter-Server-7.0-Arbitrary-…
- packetstormsecurity.com — http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/161695/VMware-vCenter-Server-File-Upload-Re…
- packetstormsecurity.com — http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/163268/VMware-vCenter-6.5-6.7-7.0-Remote-Co…
- www.vmware.com — https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2021-0002.html
- www.cisa.gov — https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2021-…
04SARA's analyst layer — why this matters
This vulnerability is currently on the CISA KEV list, which CISA only adds CVEs to when there is reliable evidence of active exploitation in the wild. For federal civilian agencies, BOD 22-01 requires remediation by the due date above. For everyone else, KEV is the strongest "patch immediately" signal you can get from public threat intel.
05Affected products (summary)
No structured affected-product list available — see references below for vendor advisories.
06Detection
Open the Sigma generator with a pre-filled prompt for this CVE to draft a starting detection:
Open in Sigma generator →