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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 17 Nov 2021. Known ransomware use
Cloud FoundationApplication · VMware

CVE-2021-22005

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-09-23
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.0 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild Ransomware High EPSS Public exploit Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click Patch available

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
The vCenter Server contains an arbitrary file upload vulnerability in the Analytics service. A malicious actor with network access to port 443 on vCenter Server may exploit this issue to execute code on vCenter Server by uploading a specially crafted file.

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

Critical arbitrary file upload vulnerability in vCenter Server's Analytics service allows remote attackers to achieve code execution by uploading specially crafted files through network access to port 443.

MitigationImmediately restrict network exposure of vCenter Server port 443, apply vendor patches, and consider temporary workarounds such as disabling the Analytics service until patching is possible.

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
Cloud FoundationApplication
Affected:>= 3.0, < 5.0
Vcenter ServerApplication
Affected:= 6.5= 6.7= 7.0

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
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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. Identify the vCenter Server version
    Access the vSphere Client or use the vCenter Server Appliance management interface (https://<vcenter-fqdn>:5480) and navigate to Summary or System information to view the installed version number.
    Affected if The version is 6.5, 6.7, or 7.0, or the product is VMware Cloud Foundation in the 3.0 to 4.x range (anything below 5.0).
  2. Confirm the Analytics service is enabled
    Log into the vCenter Server Appliance via SSH or console as root, then run: shell; ls -la /etc/vmware/vmware-vmon/services.d/ | grep analytics. Alternatively, check via the vmon-cli utility: vmon-cli -cmd status AnalyticsService.
    Affected if The Analytics service is listed and shows a status of 'Running' or is present in the enabled services list.
  3. Verify network exposure on port 443
    From an external system, run an nmap or netcat scan against the vCenter Server on port 443: nmap -p 443 <vcenter-ip> or nc -zv <vcenter-ip> 443. Also check firewall rules: esxcli network firewall ruleset list on ESXi hosts, or review NSX/dVSS firewall configurations.
    Affected if Port 443 is open and reachable from untrusted networks, or the vCenter Server is directly exposed to the internet without network segmentation.
  4. Check for indicators of exploitation
    Review vCenter Server logs for suspicious file upload activity. Navigate to /var/log/vmware/analytics/ on the vCenter Appliance and search for abnormal POST requests or file creation events. Also check /storage/db/analytics/ for unexpected files.

A user is affected if their vCenter Server version falls within 6.5, 6.7, 7.0 or Cloud Foundation 3.x-4.x AND the Analytics service is running AND port 443 is accessible from the network where the attacker resides.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 5.0 or later
Fixed in 5.0
Vendor patch www.vmware.com →
Interim mitigation

Immediately restrict network exposure of vCenter Server port 443, apply vendor patches, and consider temporary workarounds such as disabling the Analytics service until patching is possible.

Recommended fix High confidence

vCenter Server 7.0: 7.0 U2c+ | vCenter Server 6.7: 6.7 U3n+ | vCenter Server 6.5: 6.5 U3p+ | Cloud Foundation: 5.0+

  1. 1. Back up the vCenter Server/Cloud Foundation environment before starting the upgrade process.
  2. 2. Identify the current version of vCenter Server or Cloud Foundation running.
  3. 3. For vCenter Server 7.0: Upgrade to version 7.0 Update 2c or later (7.0 U3+ recommended).
  4. 4. For vCenter Server 6.7: Upgrade to version 6.7 Update 3n or later (6.7 U3p+ recommended).
  5. 5. For vCenter Server 6.5: Upgrade to version 6.5 Update 3p or later (migration to 7.0 recommended as 6.5 is end of life).
  6. 6. For Cloud Foundation: Upgrade to version 5.0 or later.
  7. 7. After upgrade, verify the Analytics service is running correctly.
  8. 8. Apply the patch per VMware's official documentation and restart services as required.
Caveat Upgrading vCenter Server major versions may require careful planning; vCenter 6.5 reached end of life and migration to 7.0 is recommended

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

Fix this in Cloud Foundation Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,660
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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-2021-22005 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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