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Cloud FoundationApplication · VMware

CVE-2022-31678

CRITICAL · 9.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-10-28
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.11 / 6.4.14 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges 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
VMware Cloud Foundation (NSX-V) contains an XML External Entity (XXE) vulnerability. On VCF 3.x instances with NSX-V deployed, this may allow a user to exploit this issue leading to a denial-of-service condition or unintended information disclosure.

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 · moderate confidence

VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 3.x deployments with NSX-V contain an XML External Entity (XXE) vulnerability in the XML parser. This allows authenticated users to inject malicious external entity references into XML documents, potentially reading local files, probing internal network resources, or triggering denial-of-service conditions through malicious XML payloads.

MitigationApply VMware's security patch for CVE-2022-31678 when available. Until then, restrict access to affected NSX-V management interfaces to trusted users only, and consider disabling XML processing where 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:< 3.11
Nsx Data CenterApplication
Affected:< 6.4.14

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
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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 if VCF or NSX-V is deployed
    Review your inventory of VMware products. Check for presence of VMware Cloud Foundation 3.x or VMware NSX Data Center (NSX-V) installations in your environment.
    Affected if Neither VCF 3.x nor NSX-V is present in the environment.
  2. Check installed VCF version
    Access the VCF admin console or run the VCF inventory command (such as 'vcf Inventory get') and locate the Cloud Foundation version number.
    Affected if The installed version is 3.x and less than 3.11.
  3. Check installed NSX-V version
    Access the NSX Manager UI or use the NSX API (GET /api/v1/cluster/nodes) and locate the NSX Data Center version.
    Affected if The installed version is less than 6.4.14.
  4. Verify XML parser usage on management interfaces
    Review NSX-V management interface configurations or API endpoints that accept XML input. Check logs for XML parser activity if available.
    Affected if NSX-V management interfaces are accessible and process XML requests from authenticated users.

You are affected if you have VCF 3.x below version 3.11 or NSX-V below version 6.4.14, and the NSX-V management interfaces that process XML are accessible to authenticated users.

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 3.11 / 6.4.14 or later
Fixed in 3.116.4.14
Interim mitigation

Apply VMware's security patch for CVE-2022-31678 when available. Until then, restrict access to affected NSX-V management interfaces to trusted users only, and consider disabling XML processing where possible.

Recommended fix High confidence

VMware Cloud Foundation 3.11 or NSX Data Center 6.4.14

  1. 1. Identify the current version of VMware Cloud Foundation or NSX Data Center (NSX-V) in your environment
  2. 2. If running Cloud Foundation < 3.11 or NSX Data Center < 6.4.14, plan for an upgrade during a maintenance window
  3. 3. Ensure you have a valid backup of the current configuration
  4. 4. For Cloud Foundation: Upgrade to version 3.11 or later
  5. 5. For NSX Data Center (NSX-V): Upgrade to version 6.4.14 or later
  6. 6. After upgrade, verify the XXE vulnerability is resolved by confirming the version and testing
Caveat Review VMware release notes for upgrade prerequisites and potential compatibility issues with existing integrations

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

Fix this in Cloud Foundation Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
36.0 hours of engineering $6,400
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $10,240.

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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-2022-31678 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