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CVE-2021-21985 (GCVE-0-2021-21985)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2021-05-26 14:04 – Updated: 2026-08-12 03:55
VLAI CISA Shadowserver Previdian
Summary
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)
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
SSVC
Exploitation: active Automatable: yes Technical Impact: total
CISA Coordinator · CISA-ADP (v2.0.3)
Decision recorded 2021-05-26 00:00 UTC
CWE
  • Remote code execution vulnerability
  • CWE-20 - Improper Input Validation
  • CWE-470 - Use of Externally-Controlled Input to Select Classes or Code ('Unsafe Reflection')
  • CWE-918 - Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF)
Assigner
References
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version CPE status
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: 91632daf-67f8-4c67-a589-8c92c4f30450

Vulnerability ID: CVE-2021-21985

Status: Confirmed

Status Updated: 2021-11-03 00:00 UTC

Exploited: Yes

Timestamps
First Seen: 2021-11-03
Asserted: 2021-11-03
Scope
Notes: KEV entry: 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: 2026-02-02 13:26 UTC | Updated: 2026-02-06 07:53 UTC
Shadowserver
Known Exploited Vulnerability - GCVE BCP-07 Compliant
KEV entry ID: ce7af91c-57ff-4dd2-aa96-fe02a5c7d677

Vulnerability ID: CVE-2021-21985

Status: Confirmed

Status Updated: 2026-09-06 00:00 UTC

Exploited: Yes

Characteristics
Severity: 98.0
Timestamps
First Seen: 2023-10-14
Asserted: 2023-10-14
Last Seen: 2026-09-06
Scope
Asset Exposure: ['internet-facing']
Notes: Affected: VMware / vCenter | Class: other-software | Severity: Critical (CVSS 9.8) | IoT: no | In CISA KEV: yes | Honeypot connections on 2026-09-06: 45
Evidence

Type: Honeypot

Signal: In The Wild Attempts

Confidence: 70%

Source: shadowserver

Details
1D 2
Iot no
Feed Shadowserver Foundation honeypot/exploited-vulnerabilities
Type http-scan
Class other-software
7D Avg 2
Vendor VMware
30D Avg 1
90D Avg 2
Product vCenter
Cisa Kev yes
Connections 45
Observation Date 2026-09-06
Vulnerability Class CVSS
Vulnerability Score 9.8
Vulnerability Severity Critical
References
Created: 2026-07-01 05:54 UTC | Updated: 2026-09-08 01:01 UTC
Previdian
Known Exploited Vulnerability - GCVE BCP-07 Compliant
KEV entry ID: 055c0f9e-e56a-4740-90bf-e8ea5ee14938

Vulnerability ID: CVE-2021-21985

Status: Confirmed

Status Updated: 2021-11-03 00:00 UTC

Exploited: Yes

Timestamps
First Seen: 2021-11-03
Asserted: 2021-11-03
Scope
Notes: KEVIntel entry: 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: kevintel

Details
Feed KEVIntel (kevintel.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...
Vendor VMware
Product VMware vCenter Server and VMware Cloud Foundation
Added Date 2021-11-03T00:00:00.000Z
Cvss Score 9.8
Epss Score 0.99999
Cvss Severity CRITICAL
Epss Percentile 0.99992
Used In Malware yes
Ahead Of Cisa Kev None
Not Yet In Cisa Kev False
References
Created: 2026-06-23 11:13 UTC | Updated: 2026-06-23 11:13 UTC
Show details on NVD website
To clipboard 

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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

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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.


Detection rules are retrieved from Rulezet.


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.