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Identity ManagerApplication · VMware

CVE-2022-22956

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-04-13
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 9.0 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
VMware Workspace ONE Access has two authentication bypass vulnerabilities (CVE-2022-22955 & CVE-2022-22956) in the OAuth2 ACS framework. A malicious actor may bypass the authentication mechanism and execute any operation due to exposed endpoints in the authentication framework.

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
How this class of weakness works · CWE-287

The mechanism that verifies who a user is can be side-stepped or fooled, letting an attacker act as someone they're not. Everything built on top of that identity then becomes untrustworthy. Fixing it means hardening the full authentication flow, including edge cases, tokens, and secondary paths.

General guidance for the improper authentication class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

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
Identity ManagerApplication
Affected:= 3.3.3= 3.3.4= 3.3.5= 3.3.6
Vrealize AutomationApplication
Affected:>= 8.0, < 9.0= 7.6
Workspace One AccessApplication
Affected:= 20.10.0.0= 20.10.0.1= 21.08.0.0= 21.08.0.1

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

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 9.0 or later
Fixed in 9.0
Vendor patch www.vmware.com →
Recommended fix High confidence

Workspace ONE Access 21.12.0.0+ (or 22.06.0.0+); Identity Manager 3.3.7+; vRealize Automation 9.0+

  1. 1. Determine the current installed version of VMware Workspace ONE Access, Identity Manager, or vRealize Automation by checking the product's admin console or system information.
  2. 2. For Workspace ONE Access: upgrade to version 21.12.0.0 or later (or 22.06.0.0 or later for the latest stable release).
  3. 3. For Identity Manager: upgrade to version 3.3.7 or later.
  4. 4. For vRealize Automation: upgrade to version 9.0 or later, or ensure version 7.6 is patched with the relevant hotfix from VMware.
  5. 5. After upgrading, verify the OAuth2 ACS endpoints are no longer exposed without authentication by reviewing access controls.
  6. 6. Review VMware VMSA-2022-0011 for any additional required post-upgrade configuration or documentation.
Caveat Major version upgrades may require migration planning; consult VMware documentation for upgrade prerequisites and compatibility considerations.

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

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $2,300. Get the upgrade done

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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-2022-22956 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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