CVE-2014-3790 in vCenter Server Appliance
Summary
by MITRE
Ruby vSphere Console (RVC) in VMware vCenter Server Appliance allows remote authenticated users to execute arbitrary commands as root by escaping from a chroot jail.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/03/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-3790 represents a critical privilege escalation flaw within the Ruby vSphere Console component of VMware vCenter Server Appliance. This issue affects authenticated users who can leverage a specific command execution mechanism to break out of a chroot jail environment and gain root-level privileges on the underlying system. The vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and improper sandboxing mechanisms within the RVC component that processes user-supplied data. Attackers can exploit this weakness by crafting specially formatted commands that manipulate the chroot environment, effectively bypassing the intended security boundaries that should restrict user access to system-level operations.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the manipulation of command execution flows within the Ruby-based console interface. When authenticated users submit specific command sequences through the RVC interface, the system fails to properly sanitize or validate the input before executing operations within the chroot environment. This failure allows attackers to inject commands that escape the restricted environment through various exploitation techniques such as symbolic link manipulation, path traversal, or direct system call bypasses. The chroot jail mechanism, designed to isolate processes and limit their access to the file system, becomes ineffective due to insufficient validation of user inputs that are processed by the console component.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability presents a severe threat to VMware vCenter Server environments as it allows authenticated attackers to achieve root-level compromise without requiring additional privileges or complex attack vectors. The exploitation process enables attackers to execute arbitrary commands with the highest system privileges, potentially leading to complete system compromise, data exfiltration, and persistence mechanisms establishment. Organizations running affected vCenter Server appliances face significant risk of unauthorized access to their virtualized infrastructure, including potential compromise of all virtual machines managed by the appliance. The vulnerability also impacts the integrity of the entire virtualization platform as it allows attackers to modify system configurations, install backdoors, or disable security controls within the vCenter environment.
Security professionals should implement immediate mitigations including applying the vendor-provided patches and updates that address the input validation and chroot jail escape mechanisms within the RVC component. Organizations should also consider implementing network segmentation and access controls to limit the exposure of vCenter appliances to untrusted networks. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-20, which addresses improper input validation, and represents a classic example of privilege escalation through sandbox bypass techniques. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to privilege escalation techniques and command and control operations, potentially enabling adversaries to establish persistent access and conduct further reconnaissance within the compromised environment. Additional defensive measures include monitoring for unusual command execution patterns and implementing robust logging mechanisms to detect potential exploitation attempts. The vulnerability underscores the importance of secure coding practices and proper sandbox implementation in multi-tenant virtualization environments where isolation mechanisms must be robust against various attack vectors.