VMware · vCenter Server · VMware vCenter Server Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
Verdict
Patch soon · actively exploited, not reachable unauthenticated from the internet, and in the top 5% of CVEs by near-term exploitation probability
Added to CISA KEV 2024-11-20 · exploited in the wild for 676 days
CVSS 7.5 HIGH. The score is a summary; these three components are the part that decides whether something scanning the internet can use it.
| Attack vector | networkreachable over the network, with no local access needed |
|---|---|
| Privileges required | lowneeds some credentials, so a fully anonymous attacker cannot reach it directly |
| User interaction | nonecan be triggered with nobody interacting with the page or request |
| Base vector | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| Weakness | CWE-250 |
This describes the vulnerability. It says nothing about whether your systems run it.
EPSS puts the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.1736, which places it in the top 5% of all tracked CVEs. The percentile is the more useful half: 0.18 in absolute terms sounds low until you know most of the internet-facing software in the world scores under that.
| EPSS probability | 0.1736 |
|---|---|
| Percentile | 0.970 — top 5% |
| Added to KEV | 2024-11-20 |
|---|---|
| Days exploited | 676 |
| Federal remediation due | not set |
| Ransomware use | no known ransomware campaign use |
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
The vCenter Server contains a privilege escalation vulnerability. A malicious actor with network access to vCenter Server may trigger this vulnerability to escalate privileges to root by sending a specially crafted network packet.