{"cve":{"cve_id":"CVE-2021-21972","is_kev":true,"kev_date_added":"2021-11-03","kev_vendor_project":"VMware","kev_product":"vCenter Server","kev_vulnerability_name":"VMware vCenter Server Remote Code Execution Vulnerability","kev_short_description":"VMware vCenter Server vSphere Client contains a remote code execution vulnerability in a vCenter Server plugin which allows an attacker with network access to port 443 to execute commands with unrestricted privileges on the underlying operating system.","kev_required_action":"Apply updates per vendor instructions.","kev_due_date":"2021-11-17","kev_known_ransomware":true,"kev_notes":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-21972","kev_cwes":["CWE-23"],"epss_score":0.99865,"epss_percentile":0.99961,"epss_as_of":"2026-08-26","description":"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_at":"2021-02-24T16:42:05Z","last_modified_at":"2026-08-12T05:17:35.260000Z","cvss_v3_score":9.8,"cvss_v3_vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","cvss_v3_severity":"CRITICAL","cvss_v4_score":null,"cvss_v4_vector":null,"cvss_v4_severity":null,"ssvc_decision":null,"ssvc_exploitation":"active","ssvc_automatable":true,"ssvc_technical_impact":"total","cwes":["CWE-22"],"nvd_references":["https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2021-0002.html","http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/161590/VMware-vCenter-Server-7.0-Arbitrary-File-Upload.html","http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/161695/VMware-vCenter-Server-File-Upload-Remote-Code-Execution.html","http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/163268/VMware-vCenter-6.5-6.7-7.0-Remote-Code-Execution.html"],"vuln_status":"Analyzed","trending_score":0.5797570000000001,"is_trending":false,"has_trended":true,"trended_number_one":false,"trending_peak_score":0.6191324,"trending_peak_rank":11,"started_trending_at":"2026-08-14T02:22:22.970584Z","trended_number_one_at":null,"summary_generated":null,"summary_generated_at":null,"summary_model":null,"created_at":"2026-06-24T00:09:31.350578Z","updated_at":"2026-08-27T17:44:58.711341Z"},"effective_severity":"CRITICAL","badges":["kev","ransomware","exploit","epss"],"impact_analysis":[],"cvss_v3_decoded":{"version":"3.1","metrics":[{"metric":"AV","name":"Attack Vector","value":"N","value_label":"Network"},{"metric":"AC","name":"Attack Complexity","value":"L","value_label":"Low"},{"metric":"PR","name":"Privileges Required","value":"N","value_label":"None"},{"metric":"UI","name":"User Interaction","value":"N","value_label":"None"},{"metric":"S","name":"Scope","value":"U","value_label":"Unchanged"},{"metric":"C","name":"Confidentiality","value":"H","value_label":"High"},{"metric":"I","name":"Integrity","value":"H","value_label":"High"},{"metric":"A","name":"Availability","value":"H","value_label":"High"}]},"cvss_v4_decoded":{"version":null,"metrics":[]},"affected":[{"vendor_slug":"vmware","vendor_name":"VMware","product_slug":"cloud-foundation","product_name":"Cloud 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