CVE-2021-21985 (GCVE-0-2021-21985)
Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2021-05-26 14:04 – Updated: 2026-08-12 03:55Summary
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. 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.
Severity
9.8 (Critical)
SSVC
Exploitation: active
Automatable: yes
Technical Impact: total
CISA Coordinator · CISA-ADP (v2.0.3)
Decision recorded 2021-05-26 00:00 UTC
CWE
Assigner
References
4 references
| URL | Tags |
|---|---|
| https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2… | x_refsource_MISC |
| http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/162812/VMwar… | x_refsource_MISC |
| http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/163487/VMwar… | x_refsource_MISC |
| https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilit… | government-resource |
Impacted products
1 product
| Vendor | Product | Version | |
|---|---|---|---|
| n/a | VMware vCenter Server and VMware Cloud Foundation |
Affected:
VMware vCenter Server (7.x before 7.0 U2b, 6.7 before 6.7 U3n, 6.5 before 6.5 U3p) and VMware Cloud Foundation (4.x before 4.2.1, 3.x before 3.10.2.1)
|
CISA
Known Exploited Vulnerability - GCVE BCP-07 Compliant
KEV entry ID: 919a9c2f-ed23-43ab-90c2-15900f1e54a3
Exploited: Yes
Timestamps
First Seen: 2021-11-03
Asserted: 2021-11-03
Scope
Notes: VMware vCenter Server Improper Input Validation Vulnerability | Affected: VMware / vCenter Server | Description: VMware vSphere Client contains an improper input validation vulnerability in the Virtual SAN Health Check plug-in, which is enabled by default in vCenter Server, which allows for remote code execution. | Required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions. | Due date: 2021-11-17 | Known ransomware campaign use (KEV): Known | Notes (KEV): https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-21985
Evidence
Type: Vendor Report
Signal: Successful Exploitation
Confidence: 80%
Source: cisa-kev
Details
| Cwes | CWE-20 CWE-470 CWE-918 |
|---|---|
| Feed | CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog |
| Product | vCenter Server |
| Due Date | 2021-11-17 |
| Date Added | 2021-11-03 |
| Vendorproject | VMware |
| Vulnerabilityname | VMware vCenter Server Improper Input Validation Vulnerability |
| Knownransomwarecampaignuse | Known |
References
Created: 2026-10-02 08:10 CEST
| Updated: 2026-10-02 08:10 CEST
Previdian
Known Exploited Vulnerability - GCVE BCP-07 Compliant
KEV entry ID: 8e5c3728-60b4-4228-9ebd-5bbeb67b544a
Exploited: Yes
Timestamps
First Seen: 2021-11-03
Asserted: 2021-11-03
Scope
Notes: The vSphere Client (HTML5) contains a remote code execution vulnerability due to lack of input validation in the Virtual SAN Health Check plug-in... | Affected: VMware / VMware vCenter Server and VMware Cloud Foundation | CVSS: 9.8 (CRITICAL) | EPSS: 0.99999 | Used in malware: yes | Not yet in CISA KEV: False
Evidence
Type: Public Report
Signal: Confirmed Compromise
Confidence: 70%
Source: previdian
Details
| Feed | Previdian (previdian.com) |
|---|---|
| Title | The vSphere Client (HTML5) contains a remote code execution vulnerability due to lack of input validation in the Virtual SAN Health Check plug-in... |
| Cve Id | CVE-2021-21985 |
| Vendor | VMware |
| Ghsa Id | None |
| Product | VMware vCenter Server and VMware Cloud Foundation |
| Added Date | 2021-11-03T00:00:00.000Z |
| Cvss Score | 9.8 |
| Epss Score | 0.99999 |
| Previous Ids | |
| Cvss Severity | CRITICAL |
| Virtual Patch | False |
| Cvss Estimated | False |
| Epss Percentile | 0.99993 |
| Used In Malware | yes |
| Vulnerability Id | CVE-2021-21985 |
| Ahead Of Cisa Kev | None |
| Not Yet In Cisa Kev | False |
References
Created: 2026-10-02 09:10 CEST
| Updated: 2026-10-02 09:10 CEST
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Experimental. This forecast is provided for visualization only and may change without notice. Do not use it for operational decisions.
Forecast uses a logistic model when the trend is rising, or an exponential decay model when the trend is falling. Fitted via linearized least squares.
Sightings
| Author | Source | Type | Date | Other |
|---|
Nomenclature
- Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
- Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
- Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
- Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
- Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
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The MITRE ATT&CK techniques below are AI-generated suggestions, inferred from the description of the
vulnerability by the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-classification-roberta-base
model, served locally by ML-Gateway.
They have not been verified by an analyst and are provided for guidance only.
The approach is described in our paper Mapping CVEs to MITRE ATT&CK Techniques: A Curated Gold-Set Classifier and the Limits of LLM-Assisted Label Expansion.
Browse all ATT&CK techniques and the vulnerabilities related to each.
The approach is described in our paper Mapping CVEs to MITRE ATT&CK Techniques: A Curated Gold-Set Classifier and the Limits of LLM-Assisted Label Expansion.
Browse all ATT&CK techniques and the vulnerabilities related to each.
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Related by attack behaviour
Vulnerabilities whose description is nearest to this one in the vector space of the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-biencoder model. This is a similarity search over the bi-encoder space (plain cosine), not a classification, and it has no measured accuracy.
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