VMware vCenter Server vmdir authorization

CVSS Meta Temp Score CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.	Current Exploit Price (≈) Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.	CTI Interest Score Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
9.0	$0-$5k	0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in VMware vCenter Server. This vulnerability affects unknown code of the component vmdir. The manipulation leads to authorization. This vulnerability is referenced as CVE-2020-3952. Remote exploitation of the attack is possible. Furthermore, an exploit is available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in VMware vCenter Server (Server Management Software) (affected version unknown). It has been rated as critical. This issue affects an unknown functionality of the component vmdir. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a authorization vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-863. The product performs an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action, but it does not correctly perform the check. This allows attackers to bypass intended access restrictions. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

Under certain conditions, vmdir that ships with VMware vCenter Server, as part of an embedded or external Platform Services Controller (PSC), does not correctly implement access controls.

The weakness was published 04/10/2020. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2020-3952 since 12/30/2019. The attack may be initiated remotely. No form of authentication is needed for a successful exploitation. Technical details are unknown but a public exploit is available.

A public exploit has been developed by Guardicore Ltd. in Python and been published 6 days after the advisory. The exploit is available at github.com. It is declared as attacked. We expect the 0-day to have been worth approximately $5k-$25k. The CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog lists this issue since 11/03/2021 with a due date of 05/03/2022:

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

There is no information about possible countermeasures known. It may be suggested to replace the affected object with an alternative product.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at Exploit-DB (48535). Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

Server Management Software

Vendor

VMware

Name

vCenter Server

License

commercial

Website

Vendor: https://www.vmware.com/

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 9.0
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 9.0

VulDB Base Score: 7.3
VulDB Temp Score: 7.3
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 9.8
NVD Vector: 🔍

CNA Base Score: 9.8
CNA Vector: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳

Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔍
VulDB Temp Score: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Authorization
CWE: CWE-863 / CWE-285 / CWE-266
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔍
Access: Public
Status: Attacked
Author: Guardicore Ltd.
Programming Language: 🔍
Download: 🔍

EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍

KEV Added: 🔍
KEV Due: 🔍
KEV Remediation: 🔍
KEV Ransomware: 🔍
KEV Notice: 🔍

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

0-Day	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Today	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

Exploit-DB: 🔍

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: no mitigation known
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔍
Exploit Delay Time: 🔍

Timelineinfo

12/30/2019 🔍
04/10/2020 +102 days 🔍
04/11/2020 +1 days 🔍
04/16/2020 +5 days 🔍
01/29/2025 +1749 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: vmware.com

Advisory: 157896
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2020-3952 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2020-3952
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-153035
scip Labs: https://www.scip.ch/en/?labs.20060413

Entryinfo

Created: 04/11/2020 08:40
Updated: 01/29/2025 20:46
Changes: 04/11/2020 08:40 (33), 04/17/2020 13:53 (22), 04/17/2020 13:54 (3), 04/20/2024 06:52 (31), 05/18/2024 11:13 (2), 05/18/2024 11:21 (1), 09/09/2024 22:29 (1), 01/01/2025 20:37 (3), 01/29/2025 20:46 (21)
Complete: 🔍
Committer: misc
Cache ID: 216::103

Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.