VMware vCenter Server 4.0 before Update 4b and 4.1 before Update 3a, VMware VirtualCenter 2.5, VMware vSphere Client 4.0 before Update 4b an
VMware vCenter Server 4.0 before Update 4b and 4.1 before Update 3a, VMware VirtualCenter 2.5, VMware vSphere Client 4.0 before Update 4b and 4.1 before Update 3a, VMware VI-Client 2.5, VMware ESXi 3.5 through 4.1, and VMware ESX 3.5 through 4.1 do not properly implement the management authentication protocol, which allow remote servers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via unspecified vectors.
Noroxi analysis
No Noroxi analysis for this record yet
We don't hand-write analysis for the hundreds of thousands of vulnerabilities in the database; that wouldn't be honest. For notable, high-impact vulnerabilities our team writes the mechanism, detection and remediation steps.
We use this product, ask for help- Published
- Feb 15, 2013
- Updated
- Jun 16, 2026
- EPSS
- 2.8% · 86th percentile
- CWE
- CWE-287
Sign in to follow · You’ll be notified if a followed record enters KEV, gets an exploit or is updated.
Report tools
Action score
41
Plan
Add it to your regular patch cycle.
- CVSS
- 40 / 40 · 10.0 / 10
- CISA KEV
- 0 / 30 · Not listed
- EPSS
- 1 / 30 · 2.8%
Affected systems
| Vendor | Product | CPE |
|---|---|---|
| vmware | vcenter server | cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server |
| vmware | virtualcenter | cpe:2.3:a:vmware:virtualcenter |
| vmware | vsphere client | cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vsphere_client |
| vmware | vi-client | cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vi-client |
| vmware | esxi | cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi |
| vmware | esx | cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esx |
Affected versions
NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.
- vmware esx3.5
- vmware esx4.0
- vmware esx4.1
- vmware esxi3.5
- vmware esxi4.0
- vmware esxi4.1
- vmware vcenter server4.0
- vmware vcenter server4.1
- vmware vi-client2.5
- vmware virtualcenter2.5
- vmware vsphere client4.0
- vmware vsphere client4.1
Same product
vmware: all recordsOther highest-scoring records for the same primary product.
- CVE-2023-34048VMware vCenter Server Out-of-Bounds Write VulnerabilityKEV99Now
- CVE-2021-21985The vSphere Client (HTML5) contains a remote code execution vulnerability due to lack of input validation in the Virtual SAN Health Check plKEV99Now
- CVE-2020-3952Under certain conditions, vmdir that ships with VMware vCenter Server, as part of an embedded or external Platform Services Controller (PSC)KEV96Now
- CVE-2026-59310vCenter directory-traversal vulnerabilityKEV70This 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 registration67This week
- CVE-2021-22017Rhttproxy as used in vCenter Server contains a vulnerability due to improper implementation of URI normalization.KEV66This 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.
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 researchersFinders, 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
- No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
If successful
- Confidentiality
- C · data can be read
- Integrity
- C · data or configuration can be modified
- Availability
- C · the service can be disrupted
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Confidentiality impact
- C
- Integrity impact
- C
- Availability impact
- C
Weakness class (CWE)
CWE-287 · Improper AuthenticationCVSS vector
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
nvd-primary
Root cause
Authentication is added route by route instead of being enforced in one place. When a route added later bypasses the shared middleware, the session check never runs for it.
The bug in code
The whole CWE-287 classA representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.
Vulnerable
app.use("/admin", requireSession, adminRouter);
// Route added later skips the middlewareapp.post("/admin-api/config", updateConfig);Fixed
const admin = express.Router();admin.use(requireSession, requireRole("admin"));
admin.post("/config", updateConfig);app.use("/admin", admin);Attack context
MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.
Attack patterns (CAPEC)
- Authentication AbuseCAPEC-114Medium
- Authentication BypassCAPEC-115Medium
- Identity SpoofingCAPEC-151likelihood: Medium · Medium
- Fake the Source of DataCAPEC-194Medium
- Exploiting Trust in ClientCAPEC-22likelihood: High · High
- Utilizing REST's Trust in the System Resource to Obtain Sensitive DataCAPEC-57likelihood: Medium · Very High
- Session HijackingCAPEC-593likelihood: High · Very High
- Token ImpersonationCAPEC-633Medium
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.