VMware Security Announcement VMSA-2021-0010 CVSSv3 score range 6.5 to 9.8

May 25, 2021

Hi everyone,

An urgent post for anyone on vCenter 6.5, 6.7 or 7.0!

NOTE: The information below is a snapshot of the VMSA-2021-0010 page, and this page may not be updated anymore after the post. For the latest information, I redirect you to the VMSA-2021-0010 link.

UPDATE: VMware just made a blog post with advise, questions, workarounds and more. You can find it here.

VMSA-2021-0010 has just been released, addressing:

VMware vCenter Server updates address remote code execution vulnerability in the vSphere Client (CVE-2021-21985) (CVSSv3 9.8)

Description

The vSphere Client (HTML5) contains a remote code execution vulnerability due to lack of input validation in the Virtual SAN Health Check plug-in which is enabled by default in vCenter Server. VMware has evaluated the severity of this issue to be in the Critical severity range with a maximum CVSSv3 base score of 9.8.

Known Attack Vectors

A malicious actor with network access to port 443 may exploit this issue to execute commands with unrestricted privileges on the underlying operating system that hosts vCenter Server.

Resolution

To remediate CVE-2021-21985 apply the updates listed in the ‘Fixed Version’ column of the ‘Response Matrix’ below to affected deployments.

Workarounds

Workarounds for CVE-2021-21985 have been listed in the ‘Workarounds’ column of the ‘Response Matrix’ below.

Additional Documentation

None.

Notes

The affected Virtual SAN Health Check plug-in is enabled by default in all vCenter Server deployments, whether or not vSAN is being used.
A supplemental blog post was created for additional clarification. Please see: https://via.vmw.com/vmsa-2021-0010-blog

Acknowledgements

VMware would like to thank Ricter Z of 360 Noah Lab for reporting this issue to us.

Response Matrix:

<td>
  Version
</td>

<td>
  Running On
</td>

<td>
  CVE Identifier
</td>

<td>
  CVSSv3
</td>

<td>
  Severity
</td>

<td>
  Fixed Version
</td>

<td>
  Workarounds
</td>

<td>
  Additional Documentation
</td>

<td>
  7.0
</td>

<td>
  Any
</td>

<td>
  CVE-2021-21985
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">9.8</a>
</td>

<td>
  critical
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/7.0/rn/vsphere-vcenter-server-70u2b-release-notes.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">7.0 U2b</a>
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/83829" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">KB83829</a>
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://via.vmw.com/vmsa-2021-0010-faq" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">FAQ</a>
</td>

<td>
  6.7
</td>

<td>
  Any
</td>

<td>
  CVE-2021-21985
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">9.8</a>
</td>

<td>
  critical
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.7/rn/vsphere-vcenter-server-67u3n-release-notes.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">6.7 U3n</a>
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/83829" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">KB83829</a>
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://via.vmw.com/vmsa-2021-0010-faq" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">FAQ</a>
</td>

<td>
  6.5
</td>

<td>
  Any
</td>

<td>
  CVE-2021-21985
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">9.8</a>
</td>

<td>
  critical
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.5/rn/vsphere-vcenter-server-65u3p-release-notes.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">6.5 U3p</a>
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/83829" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">KB83829</a>
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://via.vmw.com/vmsa-2021-0010-faq" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">FAQ</a>
</td>

Product

vCenter Server

Impacted Product Suites that Deploy Response Matrix 3a Components:

<td>
  Version
</td>

<td>
  Running On
</td>

<td>
  CVE Identifier
</td>

<td>
  CVSSv3
</td>

<td>
  Severity
</td>

<td>
  Fixed Version
</td>

<td>
  Workarounds
</td>

<td>
  Additional Documentation
</td>

<td>
  4.x
</td>

<td>
  Any
</td>

<td>
  CVE-2021-21985
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">9.8</a>
</td>

<td>
  critical
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Cloud-Foundation/4.2.1/rn/VMware-Cloud-Foundation-421-Release-Notes.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">4.2.1</a>
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/83829" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">KB83829</a>
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://via.vmw.com/vmsa-2021-0010-faq" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">FAQ</a>
</td>

<td>
  3.x
</td>

<td>
  Any
</td>

<td>
  CVE-2021-21985
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">9.8</a>
</td>

<td>
  critical
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Cloud-Foundation/3.10.2/rn/VMware-Cloud-Foundation-3102-Release-Notes.html#3.10.2.1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">3.10.2.1</a>
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/83829" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">KB83829</a>
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://via.vmw.com/vmsa-2021-0010-faq" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">FAQ</a>
</td>

Product

Cloud Foundation (vCenter Server)

And:

Authentication mechanism issue in vCenter Server Plug-ins (CVE-2021-21986) (CVSSv3 6.5)

Description

The vSphere Client (HTML5) contains a vulnerability in a vSphere authentication mechanism for the Virtual SAN Health Check, Site Recovery, vSphere Lifecycle Manager, and VMware Cloud Director Availability plug-ins. VMware has evaluated the severity of this issue to be in the Moderate severity range with a maximum CVSSv3 base score of 6.5.

Known Attack Vectors

A malicious actor with network access to port 443 on vCenter Server may perform actions allowed by the impacted plug-ins without authentication.

Resolution

To remediate CVE-2021-21986 apply the updates listed in the ‘Fixed Version’ column of the ‘Response Matrix’ below to affected deployments.

Workarounds

Workarounds for CVE-2021-21986 have been listed in the ‘Workarounds’ column of the ‘Response Matrix’ below.

Additional Documentation

None.

Notes

A supplemental blog post was created for additional clarification. Please see: https://via.vmw.com/vmsa-2021-0010-blog

Acknowledgements

None.

Response Matrix:

<td>
  Version
</td>

<td>
  Running On
</td>

<td>
  CVE Identifier
</td>

<td>
  CVSSv3
</td>

<td>
  Severity
</td>

<td>
  Fixed Version
</td>

<td>
  Workarounds
</td>

<td>
  Additional Documentation
</td>

<td>
  7.0
</td>

<td>
  Any
</td>

<td>
  CVE-2021-21986
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">6.5</a>
</td>

<td>
  moderate
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/7.0/rn/vsphere-vcenter-server-70u2b-release-notes.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">7.0 U2b</a>
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/83829" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">KB83829</a>
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://via.vmw.com/vmsa-2021-0010-faq" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">FAQ</a>
</td>

<td>
  6.7
</td>

<td>
  Any
</td>

<td>
  CVE-2021-21986
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">6.5</a>
</td>

<td>
  moderate
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.7/rn/vsphere-vcenter-server-67u3n-release-notes.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">6.7 U3n</a>
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/83829" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">KB83829</a>
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://via.vmw.com/vmsa-2021-0010-faq" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">FAQ</a>
</td>

<td>
  6.5
</td>

<td>
  Any
</td>

<td>
  CVE-2021-21986
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">6.5</a>
</td>

<td>
  moderate
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.5/rn/vsphere-vcenter-server-65u3p-release-notes.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">6.5 U3p</a>
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/83829" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">KB83829</a>
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://via.vmw.com/vmsa-2021-0010-faq" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">FAQ</a>
</td>

Product

vCenter Server

Impacted Product Suites that Deploy Response Matrix 3b Components:

<td>
  Version
</td>

<td>
  Running On
</td>

<td>
  CVE Identifier
</td>

<td>
  CVSSv3
</td>

<td>
  Severity
</td>

<td>
  Fixed Version
</td>

<td>
  Workarounds
</td>

<td>
  Additional Documentation
</td>

<td>
  4.x
</td>

<td>
  Any
</td>

<td>
  CVE-2021-21986
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">6.5</a>
</td>

<td>
  moderate
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Cloud-Foundation/4.2.1/rn/VMware-Cloud-Foundation-421-Release-Notes.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">4.2.1</a>
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/83829" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">KB83829</a>
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://via.vmw.com/vmsa-2021-0010-faq" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">FAQ</a>
</td>

<td>
  3.x
</td>

<td>
  Any
</td>

<td>
  CVE-2021-21986
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">6.5</a>
</td>

<td>
  moderate
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Cloud-Foundation/3.10.2/rn/VMware-Cloud-Foundation-3102-Release-Notes.html#3.10.2.1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">3.10.2.1</a>
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/83829" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">KB83829</a>
</td>

<td>
  <a href="https://via.vmw.com/vmsa-2021-0010-faq" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">FAQ</a>
</td>

Product

Cloud Foundation (vCenter Server)

Fixed Version(s) and Release Notes:

vCenter Server 7.0 U2b
Downloads and Documentation:
https://my.vmware.com/en/web/vmware/downloads/info/slug/datacenter_cloud_infrastructure/vmware_vsphere/7_0
https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/7.0/rn/vsphere-vcenter-server-70u2b-release-notes.html

vCenter Server 6.7 U3n
Downloads and Documentation:
https://my.vmware.com/en/web/vmware/downloads/info/slug/datacenter_cloud_infrastructure/vmware_vsphere/6_7
https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.7/rn/vsphere-vcenter-server-67u3n-release-notes.html

vCenter Server 6.5 U3p
Downloads and Documentation:
https://my.vmware.com/en/web/vmware/downloads/info/slug/datacenter_cloud_infrastructure/vmware_vsphere/6_5
https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.5/rn/vsphere-vcenter-server-65u3p-release-notes.html

VMware vCloud Foundation 4.2.1
Downloads and Documentation:
https://my.vmware.com/en/web/vmware/downloads/details?downloadGroup=VCF421&productId=1121&rPId=67576
https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Cloud-Foundation/4.2.1/rn/VMware-Cloud-Foundation-421-Release-Notes.html

VMware vCloud Foundation 3.10.2.1
Downloads and Documentation:
https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Cloud-Foundation/3.10.2/rn/VMware-Cloud-Foundation-3102-Release-Notes.html#3.10.2.1

Mitre CVE Dictionary Links:
https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2021-21985
https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2021-21986

FIRST CVSSv3 Calculator:
CVE-2021-21985: https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVE-2021-21986: https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N