CVE-2022-23240 in Active IQ Unified Manager for VMware
Summary
by MITRE • 03/01/2023
Active IQ Unified Manager for VMware vSphere, Linux, and Microsoft Windows versions prior to 9.11P1 are susceptible to a vulnerability which allows unauthorized users to update EMS Subscriptions via unspecified vectors.
Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/30/2026
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2022-23240 affects Active IQ Unified Manager versions prior to 9.11P1 across VMware vSphere, Linux, and Microsoft Windows platforms. This security flaw represents a critical authorization bypass issue that permits unauthorized actors to manipulate EMS (Enterprise Management System) subscriptions through unspecified attack vectors. The vulnerability resides within the subscription management functionality of the unified management platform, which is designed to provide centralized monitoring and management capabilities for storage environments. Given the nature of EMS subscriptions, which typically control access to enterprise monitoring services and data collection mechanisms, this weakness creates a significant security exposure that could allow malicious users to modify or manipulate subscription configurations without proper authentication.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and access control mechanisms within the EMS subscription update functionality. Attackers can exploit this weakness to perform unauthorized subscription modifications, potentially gaining elevated privileges or altering monitoring configurations that could impact system integrity and data confidentiality. The unspecified vectors suggest that the vulnerability may be exploitable through multiple attack surfaces including web interfaces, API endpoints, or command-line interfaces that handle subscription management operations. This lack of specificity in the attack vectors indicates a fundamental flaw in the application's authorization model, where proper authentication checks are either missing or inadequately implemented during subscription update operations. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-285, which covers improper authorization issues, and represents a classic case of insufficient access control that could enable privilege escalation or unauthorized configuration changes.
The operational impact of CVE-2022-23240 extends beyond simple unauthorized access, as EMS subscriptions often control critical monitoring and alerting capabilities within enterprise storage environments. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability could potentially disable critical alerts, modify subscription parameters to redirect monitoring data, or gain unauthorized access to sensitive operational information. This capability could severely compromise the security posture of organizations relying on Active IQ Unified Manager for their storage infrastructure monitoring, as subscription modifications might affect the availability and integrity of critical system notifications. The vulnerability could also enable attackers to establish persistence within the monitoring infrastructure by modifying subscription configurations that control data collection intervals, alert thresholds, or integration points with other security systems. Organizations using older versions of this software face significant risk of undetected compromise, as subscription changes might not trigger immediate alerting mechanisms that would normally detect unauthorized modifications.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should prioritize immediate remediation through the installation of Active IQ Unified Manager version 9.11P1 or later, which contains the necessary patches to address the unauthorized subscription update functionality. Organizations should implement network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure of the unified management interface to trusted networks only, reducing the attack surface available to potential exploiters. Security teams should conduct comprehensive audits of existing EMS subscriptions to identify any unauthorized modifications that may have occurred prior to patching, while also implementing enhanced monitoring for subscription-related activities. The remediation process should include verification of access controls and authentication mechanisms within the management interface, ensuring that proper authorization checks are enforced for all subscription update operations. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing principle of least privilege access controls for management interfaces and establish regular security assessments to detect similar authorization bypass vulnerabilities in other enterprise management systems. This vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and proper access control implementations, as highlighted by ATT&CK technique T1078 for valid accounts and T1566 for credential harvesting through unauthorized access to management systems.