CVE-2021-21972: VMware vCenter Server Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
Actively exploited. At least one CVE in this advisory is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog — exploitation has been observed in the wild. Treat remediation as urgent.
VMware vCenter Server vSphere Client contains a remote code execution vulnerability in a vCenter Server plugin which allows an attacker with network access to port 443 to execute commands with unrestricted privileges on the underlying operating system.
CSIRTS triage
- What
- VMware vCenter Server vSphere Client contains a remote code execution vulnerability in a vCenter Server plugin.
- Who is affected
- Deployments of VMware vCenter Server with network access to port 443.
- Urgency
- Remediation is urgent due to active exploitation and critical severity.
- Action
- Update to the latest version of VMware vCenter Server.
AI-assisted analysis generated from the source advisory — verify against the original.
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Details
Original advisory: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-21972
Exploitation outlook
EPSS (FIRST.org) estimates each CVE’s probability of exploitation in the next 30 days — here is the CSIRTS.com read on those numbers.
- Exploitation confirmedCVE-2021-21972Already exploited in the wild (CISA KEV) — the prediction phase is over. Patch now. Riskier than 100% of all scored CVEs.
Referenced CVEs
| CVE | CSIRTS overview | External |
|---|---|---|
| CVE-2021-21972 | coverage & exploitation status | NVD · CVE.org |
Recent advisories for VMware vCenter Server
A cluster of recent advisories against the same product widens the attack surface — attackers routinely chain freshly published CVEs on one product, so review these together.
- criticalexploitedCVE-2024-37079: Broadcom VMware vCenter Server Out-of-bounds Write Vulnerabilitycisa-kev · 2026-01-23
- criticalexploitedCVE-2024-38812: VMware vCenter Server Heap-Based Buffer Overflow Vulnerabilitycisa-kev · 2024-11-20
- criticalexploitedCVE-2024-38813: VMware vCenter Server Privilege Escalation Vulnerabilitycisa-kev · 2024-11-20
- criticalexploitedCVE-2022-22948: VMware vCenter Server Incorrect Default File Permissions Vulnerabilitycisa-kev · 2024-07-17
- criticalexploitedCVE-2023-34048: VMware vCenter Server Out-of-Bounds Write Vulnerabilitycisa-kev · 2024-01-22
- criticalexploitedCVE-2021-21973: VMware vCenter Server and Cloud Foundation Server Side Request Forgery (SSRF) Vulnerabilitycisa-kev · 2022-03-07
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