CVE-2022-2637 in Storage Plug-in for VMware vCenter
Summary
by MITRE • 10/06/2022
Incorrect Privilege Assignment vulnerability in Hitachi Hitachi Storage Plug-in for VMware vCenter allows remote authenticated users to cause privilege escalation.This issue affects Hitachi Storage Plug-in for VMware vCenter: from 04.8.0 before 04.9.0.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/26/2026
The CVE-2022-2637 vulnerability represents a critical privilege assignment flaw within the Hitachi Storage Plug-in for VMware vCenter software ecosystem. This vulnerability specifically targets the authentication and authorization mechanisms that govern user permissions within the storage management interface, creating a pathway for remote authenticated attackers to escalate their privileges. The affected version range spans from 04.8.0 through versions prior to 04.9.0, indicating that organizations running these specific iterations of the plug-in face significant security risks. The vulnerability's classification as an incorrect privilege assignment directly relates to improper access control implementation where the system fails to correctly validate or enforce user permissions during runtime operations.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability stems from the plug-in's failure to properly validate user credentials and authorization levels when performing administrative functions. Attackers who have gained initial authenticated access to the vCenter environment can leverage this flaw to elevate their privileges from standard user roles to administrative levels within the Hitachi storage management interface. This occurs because the system does not adequately enforce the principle of least privilege, allowing authenticated users to bypass normal access controls and execute operations that should be restricted to authorized administrators only. The flaw essentially creates a backdoor mechanism where legitimate authenticated users can manipulate their permission levels to gain unauthorized elevated access.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability poses severe risks to enterprise environments that rely on VMware vCenter for virtual infrastructure management. The privilege escalation capability enables attackers to gain full administrative control over Hitachi storage systems integrated with the vCenter environment, potentially leading to data exfiltration, system compromise, and disruption of critical storage services. Organizations utilizing this plug-in in production environments face the risk of unauthorized access to sensitive storage configurations, backup data, and storage performance metrics that could be exploited for further attacks within the network infrastructure. The remote nature of the attack means that threat actors do not require physical access to the systems and can operate from external networks, making detection and prevention more challenging.
Security professionals should recognize this vulnerability as aligning with CWE-276, which addresses improper privilege management, and it maps to several ATT&CK techniques including privilege escalation and lateral movement. The vulnerability's impact extends beyond immediate storage system compromise, as it can serve as a stepping stone for attackers to establish persistent access within the broader virtual infrastructure environment. Organizations should immediately implement mitigation strategies including applying the vendor-provided patch for version 04.9.0 or later, implementing network segmentation to limit access to vCenter environments, and conducting thorough access control reviews. Additionally, monitoring for unusual authentication patterns and privilege changes within the storage management interface should be implemented as part of comprehensive security operations. The vulnerability underscores the importance of proper access control implementation and regular security assessments of third-party plugins integrated with critical infrastructure management systems.