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CVE-2022-31680· NVD / CVE Program· CNA vmware

The vCenter Server contains an unsafe deserialisation vulnerability in the PSC (Platform services controller).

The vCenter Server contains an unsafe deserialisation vulnerability in the PSC (Platform services controller). A malicious actor with admin access on vCenter server may exploit this issue to execute arbitrary code on the underlying operating system that hosts the vCenter Server.

CriticalCVSS 9.1 · v3.1—No exploit No fix recorded
Published
Oct 7, 2022
Updated
Jun 17, 2026
EPSS
33.1% · 98th percentile
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Report tools

JSON

Action score

46

Plan

Add it to your regular patch cycle.

CVSS
36 / 40 · 9.1 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
10 / 30 · 33.1%

Noroxi analysis

No Noroxi analysis for this record yet

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Affected systems

VendorProduct
vmwarevcenter server

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • vmware vcenter serverbefore 6.5
  • vmware vcenter server6.5

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (vmware). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • n/a VMware vCenter Server

    • VMware vCenter Server 6.5 prior to U3uaffected

Same product

vmware: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2023-34048VMware vCenter Server Out-of-Bounds Write VulnerabilityKEV
    99Now
  • CVE-2021-21985The vSphere Client (HTML5) contains a remote code execution vulnerability due to lack of input validation in the Virtual SAN Health Check plKEV
    99Now
  • CVE-2020-3952Under certain conditions, vmdir that ships with VMware vCenter Server, as part of an embedded or external Platform Services Controller (PSC)KEV
    96Now
  • CVE-2026-59310vCenter directory-traversal vulnerabilityKEV
    70This week
  • CVE-2015-2342The JMX RMI service in VMware vCenter Server 5.0 before u3e, 5.1 before u3b, 5.5 before u3, and 6.0 before u1 does not restrict registration
    67This week
  • CVE-2021-22017Rhttproxy as used in vCenter Server contains a vulnerability due to improper implementation of URI normalization.KEV
    66This week

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

No fix version is recorded for this entry. Check the references for vendor advisories.

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • Administrator privileges are required.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
high · data can be read
Integrity
high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted

Impact can extend beyond the vulnerable component (scope changes).

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
High
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-502 · Deserialization of Untrusted Data

CVSS vector

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

nvd-primary

Root cause

Data received over the network is deserialized into the language’s native object format without verifying its source. Code paths inside the object can be triggered during deserialization.

The bug in code

The whole CWE-502 class

A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

Vulnerable

python
payload = sock.recv(65536)job = pickle.loads(payload)

Fixed

python
payload = sock.recv(65536)if not hmac.compare_digest(sign(payload), header_sig):    raise PermissionError("invalid signature")job = JobSchema.validate(json.loads(payload))

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

ATT&CK techniques

—

Change log

No changes recorded on tracked fields yet. Score, KEV, exploit maturity and fix status changes appear here.

References

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records