Skip to main content
ExploitedIn CISA KEVFix available

CVE-2021-22005

Exploitation confirmed. First attested on 2021-11-03 by CISA-ADP, CISA KEV, GCVE · kevintel, GCVE · shadowserver.

  • Published2021-09-23
  • WeaknessCWE-22

Am I affected?

With a domain, we read the version its public headers and pages expose. A distribution build can carry the fix under an older number.

Description

The vCenter Server contains an arbitrary file upload vulnerability in the Analytics service. A malicious actor with network access to port 443 on vCenter Server may exploit this issue to execute code on vCenter Server by uploading a specially crafted file.

Timeline

dates in UTC
  1. 2021-09-2312:15CVE publishedNVD
  2. 2021-11-03Added to the CISA KEV catalogCISA KEV
  3. 2021-11-03Listed as exploited by GCVEGCVE
  4. 2021-11-03Exploitation first reportedCISA KEV
  5. 2025-01-2917:56SSVC exploitation set to activeCISA-ADP

Observed activity

isMalicious corpus · updated 2026-11-03 21:37 UTC
Indicators tagged with this CVE, per day0 indicators over 7 days
Block these indicators
  • Firewall list (EDL, text): https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2021-22005?format=txt
  • CSV export: https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2021-22005?format=csv
  • TAXII collection of exploited CVEs
  • The EDL and CSV take an API key on the Pro plan.

Versions per branch

NVD
Vmware vcenter server
BranchAffectedFixed in
6.5= 6.5no fix published
6.7= 6.7no fix published
7.0= 7.0no fix published
Vmware cloud foundation
BranchAffectedFixed in
5.0≥ 3.0, < 5.05.0

as publishedRanges as NVD and OSV publish them; a distribution’s build can be fixed under an older number.

Products declared by the CNA1 product

As vmware, the CNA that assigned this CVE, declared them in the CVE record; versions as written.

  • VMware vCenter Server, VMware Cloud Foundation
    Affected
    • = VMware vCenter Server(7.x before 7.0 U2c and 6.7 before 6.7 U3o) and VMware Cloud Foundation (4.x before 4.3 and 3.x before 3.10.2.2)no fix stated

Source: the CNA record (CVE Program), © The MITRE Corporation,CVE Terms of UseCVE recordupdated 2021-10-07

Fix

  1. CISA’s required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.due 2021-11-17

Advisories and patches

Detection

read 2026-11-03 22:42 UTC
Nuclei template
available
ProjectDiscovery
Exploit-DB
no entry
Exploit-DB
Proof-of-concept repositories
12 repositories, unverified1ZRR4H/CVE-2021-22005pisut4152/Sigma-Rule-for-CVE-2021-22005-scanning-activityJeromeyoung/VMWare-CVE-Check5gstudent/CVE-2021-22005-RedTeamExp/CVE-2021-22005_PoC
PoC-in-GitHub
Metasploit modules
1 moduleexploit/linux/http/vmware_vcenter_analytics_file_uploadrank: excellentModule metadata: Metasploit Framework, © Rapid7, Inc., BSD-3-Clause.
Metasploit Framework

CISA Known Exploited Vulnerability

Date Added
2021-11-03
Patch Due Date
2021-11-17
Ransomware Use
Known
Required Action
Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Sources

Identifiers

Technical details

CVSS v3 Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Published
2021-09-23
Last Modified
2026-06-17
NVD status
Analyzed
GitHub Advisory
GHSA-9w75-994h-2j26

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2021-22005?

The vCenter Server contains an arbitrary file upload vulnerability in the Analytics service. A malicious actor with network access to port 443 on vCenter Server may exploit this issue to execute code on vCenter Server by uploading a specially crafted file.

Is CVE-2021-22005 actively exploited?

Yes. CVE-2021-22005 is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, meaning it has been confirmed as actively exploited in the wild. CISA requires federal agencies to patch by 2021-11-17.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2021-22005?

CVE-2021-22005 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8 (CRITICAL severity), with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

Hear about the next vulnerability in your software

Surveillance reads the versions in your stack — a domain, a lockfile or a list — checks each CVE against the ranges its sources publish, and alerts you when one you run is exploited or enters CISA KEV. A version it cannot read stays « version not verified ».

Get alerts for this productCISA KEV additions, November 2021Search CVEs

No credit card required · No monthly cap on website lookups · 250 API requests/month

Go further

Related vulnerabilities

Same product first, then the same vendor advisory and the same publication week.

Back to CVE Database

Sources for this record