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Vcenter Server ApplianceApplication · VMware

CVE-2014-3790

HIGH · 9.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2014-06-01
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
96/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Ruby vSphere Console (RVC) in VMware vCenter Server Appliance allows remote authenticated users to execute arbitrary commands as root by escaping from a chroot jail.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Ruby vSphere Console (RVC) in VMware vCenter Server Appliance contains a privilege escalation vulnerability where authenticated remote users can escape from an intended chroot jail containment and execute arbitrary commands with root privileges on the underlying system.

MitigationApply VMware security patches for CVE-2014-3790 to the vCenter Server Appliance. If patching is not immediately feasible, restrict network access to the RVC interface to trusted administrative IP addresses only until the update can be deployed.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Vcenter Server ApplianceApplication
Affected:= 5.1= 5.5

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Authentication
Single
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:C/I:C/A:C

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify the system is a vCenter Server Appliance
    Confirm the target host is running VMware vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) rather than a Windows-based vCenter installation. Check the system inventory, product name in the VAMI interface, or the /etc/issue file on the appliance for 'VMware vCenter Server Appliance'.
    Affected if The target is not a vCenter Server Appliance (this vulnerability affects only the VCSA Linux-based appliance, not Windows vCenter installations).
  2. Determine the installed vCenter Server Appliance version
    Access the VAMI interface at https://<appliance-ip>:5480 or run 'vpxd -v' from the command line to retrieve the exact version number. Compare against the affected versions 5.1 and 5.5.
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 5.1 or exactly 5.5.
  3. Confirm the Ruby vSphere Console (RVC) is enabled
    Check if the RVC service is running on the appliance. On VCSA 5.x, RVC typically runs as a service. Verify with 'service --status-all' or by checking for processes listening on port 443/5480 that correspond to RVC.
    Affected if RVC is disabled and not running on the system.
  4. Assess network exposure of the RVC interface
    Determine if the RVC interface is reachable over the network from untrusted addresses. Check firewall rules, network configuration, and whether the appliance is directly internet-facing or behind a trusted network segment. RVC is typically accessed via the VAMI port 5480 or through the vSphere Web Client infrastructure.
    Affected if RVC is network-accessible from untrusted IP addresses or the internet.

The system is affected if it is a vCenter Server Appliance running version 5.1 or 5.5 with the RVC interface accessible over the network.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply VMware security patches for CVE-2014-3790 to the vCenter Server Appliance. If patching is not immediately feasible, restrict network access to the RVC interface to trusted administrative IP addresses only until the update can be deployed.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

VMware vCenter Server Appliance 5.5 Update 3 or later (the fix was included in later 5.5 updates; for version 5.1, upgrade to 5.5 then apply latest patches)

  1. 1. Identify the current VMware vCenter Server Appliance version by accessing the appliance management interface.
  2. 2. Download the latest VMware vCenter Server Appliance 5.5 update from the official VMware download portal (my.vmware.com).
  3. 3. Plan maintenance window as upgrade will require downtime.
  4. 4. Backup the current vCenter Server Appliance configuration and database.
  5. 5. Perform the upgrade following VMware's official upgrade documentation for vCenter Server Appliance.
  6. 6. Verify the upgrade was successful by logging into the vCenter Server Appliance management interface.
  7. 7. Confirm the Ruby vSphere Console (RVC) is now running the patched version.
Caveat Upgrade may require migration of data and could have compatibility implications with existing plugins or integrations; test in non-production environment first

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Vcenter Server Appliance Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2014-3790 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data