CVE-2021-21972
VMware vCenter Server, VMware Cloud Foundation
Published 24 Feb 2021 · updated 12 Aug 2026 · Analyzed
Exploited in the wild
CISA added this to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 3 Nov 2021, with a remediation deadline of 17 Nov 2021 for US federal agencies. It has been used in ransomware campaigns.
Required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.
Description
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 Cloud Foundation (4.x before 4.2 and 3.x before 3.10.1.2).
References
- packetstormsecurity.com/files/161590/VMware-vCenter-Server-7.0-Arbitrary-File-Upload.html · Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- packetstormsecurity.com/files/161695/VMware-vCenter-Server-File-Upload-Remote-Code-Execution.html · Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- packetstormsecurity.com/files/163268/VMware-vCenter-6.5-6.7-7.0-Remote-Code-Execution.html · Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2021-0002.html · Vendor Advisory
- www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2021-21972 · US Government Resource