CVE-2022-22960VMware Multiple Products Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
CVE-2022-22960 is a incorrect permission assignment in VMware Workspace ONE Access, Identity Manager and vRealize Automation, rated high (7.8 on CVSS 3.1).
Why this priority: Exploited in the wild: listed in CISA's KEV catalog.
Published · Updated · NVD status: Analyzed
What it is
A critical resource has permissions that let the wrong people read or change it.
How it is reached
An attacker can exploit it by someone who can already run code or sign in on the machine, with an ordinary user account, and nobody has to click anything.
What an attacker gains
A successful attack can read the data it protects, change data or behaviour and take it offline. In practice, this kind of flaw lets an attacker use a weak default the deployment never changed.
Is it being exploited?
CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2022-04-15: it is being exploited in the wild. EPSS estimates a 36% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 98% of scored CVEs.
What to do
- Treat it as urgent: it is on CISA's KEV list. CISA's deadline for US federal agencies: 2022-05-06.
- No fixed version is listed for VMware Workspace ONE Access, Identity Manager and vRealize Automation itself; fixed versions for the other affected products are listed on this page.
- Limit who can run code or sign in on the hosts that run it.
- Check exposed instances for signs of compromise, not only for the version.
Description from NVD
VMware Workspace ONE Access, Identity Manager and vRealize Automation contain a privilege escalation vulnerability due to improper permissions in support scripts. A malicious actor with local access can escalate privileges to 'root'.
What this means for your architecture.
A CVE names a product. Whether it matters depends on where that product sits in your systems: what reaches it, which trust boundary it guards and what it can reach once compromised. Veriom maps your components, their relationships and your trust boundaries from your code, cloud and delivery evidence, so you can see where a component like this sits. The radar itself does not look at your systems.
Components it touches
- Default settings, permissions and deployment configuration. The flaw sits between the shipped defaults and a hardened deployment.
Trust boundaries in play
- Host boundary. The attacker needs a foothold on the machine first; the flaw turns a small foothold into a bigger one.
- Between the shipped defaults and a hardened deployment. An attacker who crosses it can use a weak default the deployment never changed.
Questions to answer about your own systems
- Where does VMware Workspace ONE Access, Identity Manager and vRealize Automation run in your systems, and at which version?
- Which of those hosts also run code or users you do not fully trust?
- What can it reach once compromised: which data stores, secrets and services?
Read more
Patches and commits
Sources
- CVE records and CVSS scores from the NVD CVE API. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.
- Exploitation status from CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
- Exploit likelihood from FIRST’s Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), refreshed daily.
- Explanations are written by Veriom from fixed templates over each record’s data, not by a person reviewing each CVE. Descriptions are quoted from the records as published.