CVE-2021-22007 in vCenter Server
Summary
by MITRE • 09/24/2021
The vCenter Server contains a local information disclosure vulnerability in the Analytics service. An authenticated user with non-administrative privilege may exploit this issue to gain access to sensitive information.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/01/2021
The CVE-2021-22007 vulnerability represents a significant local information disclosure weakness within VMware vCenter Server's Analytics service that fundamentally undermines the security posture of virtualized environments. This flaw specifically targets the analytics component of VMware's vCenter platform, which serves as the central management interface for vSphere environments. The vulnerability enables authenticated users with non-administrative privileges to exploit a design flaw that allows unauthorized access to sensitive information that should remain protected within the system. The Analytics service, designed to collect and process operational data from virtual machines and infrastructure components, contains insufficient access controls that permit information disclosure to users who lack proper administrative clearance. This issue directly violates fundamental security principles of least privilege and information classification, as it allows users to potentially extract confidential data that includes system configurations, performance metrics, and operational details that could be leveraged for further attacks.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and access control mechanisms within the Analytics service's data processing pipeline. Attackers can exploit this weakness by leveraging legitimate authentication credentials to query system information that should be restricted to administrative users only. The flaw manifests when the service fails to properly validate user permissions before returning sensitive data, creating a path for privilege escalation through information gathering rather than direct system compromise. This type of vulnerability commonly maps to CWE-200 (Information Exposure) and CWE-284 (Improper Access Control) within the Common Weakness Enumeration framework, representing a classic case of insufficient authorization checks in service components. The vulnerability exists in the service's response handling logic where it processes user requests for analytics data without adequate verification of the requesting user's privilege level, allowing for unauthorized data extraction through legitimate API endpoints.
The operational impact of CVE-2021-22007 extends beyond simple information disclosure, as the leaked data could provide attackers with critical insights into the target environment's infrastructure configuration, virtual machine deployments, and operational patterns. This intelligence could significantly enhance subsequent attack phases, including reconnaissance, lateral movement, and privilege escalation within the compromised environment. The vulnerability's exploitation capability allows threat actors to gather detailed information about virtual machine configurations, resource utilization patterns, and system dependencies that would normally be restricted to authorized administrators. Security teams face increased risk of targeted attacks when this information is available to unauthorized users, as it provides a roadmap for understanding system weaknesses and potential attack vectors. The vulnerability's impact is particularly concerning in multi-tenant environments where different users share the same vCenter infrastructure, as it could enable cross-tenant data leakage and compromise the isolation guarantees that virtualization platforms are designed to provide.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying VMware's official security patches and updates that address the access control deficiencies within the Analytics service. Network segmentation and privilege reduction measures should be enforced to limit user access to only necessary system components, while monitoring systems should be enhanced to detect anomalous data access patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability highlights the importance of proper privilege separation and access control validation within service components, aligning with ATT&CK technique T1078 (Valid Accounts) and T1082 (System Information Discovery) as attackers could use the disclosed information to improve their targeting and reduce detection risk. Regular security assessments should be conducted to identify similar access control weaknesses in other service components, while privileged account management should be strengthened to prevent unauthorized users from obtaining sufficient credentials to exploit such vulnerabilities. The remediation process should include comprehensive auditing of all service components to ensure that access controls are properly enforced and that sensitive information is adequately protected against unauthorized disclosure.