CVE-2021-21972

Exp

The vSphere Client (HTML5) contains a remote code execution vulnerability in a vCenter Server plugin. A malicious actor with network access to port 443 may exploit this issue to execute commands with unrestricted privileges on the underlying operating system that hosts vCenter Server. This affects VMware vCenter Server (7.x before 7.0 U1c, 6.7 before 6.7 U3l and 6.5 before 6.5 U3n) and VMware Cloud Foundation (4.x before 4.2 and 3.x before 3.10.1.2).

Published: 2021-02-24 Last update: 2025-10-30 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2021-21972 is rated Critical Active Threat (100/100): CVSS Critical severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 99.57%, 100th percentile). CISA KEV confirms active exploitation (added 2021-11-03) affecting VMware / vCenter Server. a weakness (CWE-22) Unauthenticated remote administrative access may be possible. EPSS rose +5.75% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. The CISA remediation deadline has passed—treat as an emergency patch priority.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

CISA KEV Record for CVE-2021-21972

Name: VMware vCenter Server Remote Code Execution Vulnerability · CISA KEV detail

Exploit added: 2021-11-03

Action due: 2021-11-17

Required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2021-21972

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
50056 exploit_db edb 2021-06-24 Exploit-DB ↗
49602 exploit_db edb 2021-03-01 Exploit-DB ↗
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2021-21972

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 93.82% 99.57% +5.75%
2 2026-05-28 93.74% 93.82% +0.08%
3 2026-05-24 — 93.74% —

Full EPSS history (24 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-21972

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.8 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 5.9 [email protected]
9.8 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 5.9 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
10.0 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:C)
Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C)
Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
 10.0 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-21972

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-21972

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
vmware cloud_foundation >= 3.0, < 3.10.1.2 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:cloud_foundation:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware cloud_foundation >= 4.0, < 4.2 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:cloud_foundation:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 6.5 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:6.5:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 6.5 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:6.5:a:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 6.5 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:6.5:b:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 6.5 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:6.5:c:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 6.5 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:6.5:d:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 6.5 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:6.5:e:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 6.5 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:6.5:f:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 6.5 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:6.5:update1d:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 6.5 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:6.5:update1e:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 6.5 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:6.5:update1g:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 6.5 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:6.5:update2:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 6.5 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:6.5:update2b:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 6.5 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:6.5:update2c:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 6.5 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:6.5:update2d:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 6.5 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:6.5:update2g:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 6.5 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:6.5:update3:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 6.5 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:6.5:update3d:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 6.5 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:6.5:update3f:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 6.5 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:6.5:update3k:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 6.7 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:6.7:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 6.7 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:6.7:a:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 6.7 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:6.7:b:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 6.7 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:6.7:d:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 6.7 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:6.7:update1:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 6.7 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:6.7:update1b:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 6.7 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:6.7:update2:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 6.7 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:6.7:update2a:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 6.7 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:6.7:update2c:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 6.7 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:6.7:update3:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 6.7 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:6.7:update3a:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 6.7 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:6.7:update3b:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 6.7 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:6.7:update3f:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 6.7 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:6.7:update3g:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 6.7 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:6.7:update3j:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 7.0 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:7.0:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 7.0 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:7.0:a:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 7.0 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:7.0:b:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 7.0 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:7.0:c:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 7.0 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:7.0:d:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 7.0 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:7.0:update1:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vcenter_server 7.0 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:7.0:update1a:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-21972

cvelogic Threat Intelligence