KEV Intelligence

Vulnerability report

Exploited in the wild Confirmed confidence In CISA KEV

CVE-2021-21972

VMware vCenter Server Remote Code Execution

VMware / VMware vCenter Server · 7.x before 7.0 U1c

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Severity
CVSS 9.8 · Critical
Confidence
Confirmed
Exploit status
Exploited in the wild
EPSS
99.5%
First observed
—
Last observed
—

Decision summary

What security teams need to know first

Direct answers before the deeper technical record.

What it is

CVE-2021-21972 is an unauthenticated vulnerability affecting VMware VMware vCenter Server, VMware Cloud Foundation. The vSphere Client (HTML5) contains a remote code execution vulnerability in a vCenter Server plugin....

Is it exploited?

Yes. KEV Intelligence tracks this CVE as a known exploited vulnerability. Confidence is confirmed.

Who is affected?

VMware / VMware vCenter Server 7.x before 7.0 u1c.

What should we do?

Prioritize remediation. Validate affected assets and apply vendor fixes on an accelerated timeline.

Overview

The vSphere Client (HTML5) contains a remote code execution vulnerability in a vCenter Server plugin

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).

Vendor Product Affected Status
n/a VMware vCenter Server 7.x before 7.0 U1c Affected
n/a VMware vCenter Server 6.7 before 6.7 U3l Affected
n/a VMware vCenter Server 6.5 before 6.5 U3n Affected
n/a VMware Cloud Foundation 4.x before 4.2 Affected
n/a VMware Cloud Foundation 3.x before 3.10.1.2 Affected
Published
24 Feb 2021
Exploitation Reported
03 Nov 2021
Attack vector
Remote
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None

Tags

nuclei_scanner cisa malware metasploit ransomware

CVE References

Exploitation evidence

Why KEV Intelligence marks this CVE as exploited

Third-party attestation and first-party sensor observation are shown separately so teams can judge the evidence chain.

Exploited in the wild

CISA

Recorded 03 Nov 2021

Independent exploitation attestation added to the KEV Intelligence record.

Used in malware

CISA

Recorded 03 Nov 2021

Malware families have been linked to exploitation of this CVE.

Proof of concept available

GitHub

Recorded 24 Feb 2021

Public scanner or PoC coverage increases practical exploitability.

Known exploited vulnerability sources

Per-source evidence links for KEV attestations are available through the KEV Intelligence Pro API.

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Source Added
CISA First 2021-11-03 00:00 UTC
The Shadowserver 2026-07-03 00:00 UTC
CVE 2026-08-12 04:21 UTC

Detection

Operational artifacts and observed signals

Make the evidence actionable in scanner, SOC, and edge-control workflows.

Observed signals

Request targets
0
User-Agents
0

Raw values available in Pro and Enterprise.

Virtual patch status

No KEV Intelligence virtual patch is currently available. Future rules ship for ModSecurity, Cloudflare, and AWS WAF.

Learn about virtual patches →

Scanner Artifacts

Scanner and exploit-framework references linked to this CVE.

Scanner Reference Detected
Metasploit https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/multi/http/vmware_vcenter_uploadova_rce.rb 28 Apr 2025
Nuclei https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2021/CVE-2021-21972.yaml 25 Apr 2025

Risk and context

Severity, weaknesses, and research context

CVSS v3.1

9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS

99.5%

Weaknesses

Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') CWE-22

All CVSS Scores

CVSS v3.1 9.8 Critical

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS v2.0 10.0 High

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Potential Proof of Concepts

These PoCs are unverified and could contain malware. Use at your own risk.

alt3kx/CVE-2021-21972

github · Created 2021-02-25 05:10:06 UTC · 54 stars · AI assessment 90%

horizon3ai/CVE-2021-21972

github · Created 2021-02-24 16:31:34 UTC · 260 stars · AI assessment 90%

Proof of Concept Exploit for vCenter CVE-2021-21972

NS-Sp4ce/CVE-2021-21972

github · Created 2021-02-24 11:14:58 UTC · 491 stars · AI assessment 90%

CVE-2021-21972 Exploit

QmF0c3UK/CVE-2021-21972-vCenter-6.5-7.0-RCE-POC

github · Created 2021-02-24 09:56:21 UTC · 136 stars · AI assessment 85%

VMware vSphere Client (HTML5) - Remote Code Execution

nuclei · Created Unknown

vmware_vcenter_uploadova_rce

metasploit · Created Unknown

Metasploit module for CVE-2021-21972

Timeline

From disclosure to observed exploitation

  1. KEV confirmed by CVE

    Exploitation attested by an external source

  2. KEV confirmed by The Shadowserver

    Exploitation attested by an external source

  3. Metasploit module available

    Exploit module available

  4. Nuclei template available

    Scanner coverage available

  5. Added to CISA KEV

    Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

  6. First public exploitation report

    Exploit observed in malware

  7. CVE published

    Vulnerability disclosed publicly

  8. Public PoC available

    Public proof-of-concept code published

  9. CVE ID reserved

    Identifier reserved by the CNA

Pro API

Automate this intelligence

Confidence, exploit status, sensor telemetry, PoCs, scanner integrations, mentions, and tags are available programmatically for VM, SOC, and CTI workflows.

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  • Evidence confidence and provenance
  • First-party sensor telemetry
  • PoC and scanner references
  • Affected versions and enrichment
  • Automation-ready JSON delivery

GET /api/v2/pro/kevs/CVE-2021-21972

Free JSON includes basic KEV fields 
{
  "cve_id": "CVE-2021-21972",
  "confidence": "Confirmed",
  "cvss_score": 9.8,
  "cvss_estimated": false,
  "epss_score": 0.99518,
  "exploit_status": {
    "exploited_in_the_wild": true,
    "active_exploitation_observed": false
  },
  "sensor_telemetry": { "attempts": 0, "sensors": 0 }
}

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