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CVE-2020-3952· NVD / CVE Program· CNA vmware

Under certain conditions, vmdir that ships with VMware vCenter Server, as part of an embedded or external Platform Services Controller (PSC)

Under certain conditions, vmdir that ships with VMware vCenter Server, as part of an embedded or external Platform Services Controller (PSC), does not correctly implement access controls.

CriticalCVSS 9.8 · v3.1KEVWeaponized No fix recorded
Published
Apr 10, 2020
Updated
Jun 16, 2026
EPSS
90.4% · 100th percentile
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Report tools

JSON

Action score

96

Now

Patch today or shut off access.

CVSS
39 / 40 · 9.8 / 10
CISA KEV
30 / 30 · Listed
EPSS
27 / 30 · 90.4%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
active
Automatable
yes
Technical impact
total

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

Actively exploited in the wild

CISA added this to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on Nov 3, 2021. That signals real attacks, not theory.

Remediation deadline for government agencies: May 3, 2022.

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 server6.7

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

    • vCenter Server 6.7 (embedded or external PSC) prior to 6.7u3f is affected by CVE-2020-3952 if it was upgraded from a previous release line such as 6.0 or 6.5. Clean installations of vCenter Server 6.7affected

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-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
  • CVE-2023-20894The VMware vCenter Server contains an out-of-bounds write vulnerability in the implementation of the DCERPC protocol.
    49Plan

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

Weaponized

A ready exploit tool or active in-the-wild use is known for this vulnerability. This should be your top priority.

Evidence

  • Metasploit module ×2
  • Exploit-DB entry ×1
  • Nuclei detection template ×1
  • Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub ×4

Noroxi does not host or link to exploit code. Metasploit module names and Nuclei template ids are shown (names, not code); Exploit-DB entries and PoC repositories are given as counts only.

Public exploit evidence
SourceKindDate
Exploit-DB entrywebapps2020-06-01
Metasploit moduleauxiliary/admin/ldap/vmware_vcenter_vmdir_auth_bypassVMware vCenter Server vmdir Authentication Bypassauxiliary2020-04-09
Metasploit moduleauxiliary/gather/vmware_vcenter_vmdir_ldapVMware vCenter Server vmdir Information Disclosureauxiliary2020-04-09
Nuclei detection templateNuclei template CVE-2020-3952 —
Proof-of-concept repository on GitHubstars:42020-04-15
Proof-of-concept repository on GitHubstars:2742020-04-16
Proof-of-concept repository on GitHubstars:22020-04-17
Proof-of-concept repository on GitHubstars:42020-04-19

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.

  1. Metasploit-1 d
  2. Published
  3. First PoC+5 d
  4. CISA KEV+572 d
  5. TodaySep 29, 2026+2364 d
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.
  • No account or password is 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
Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
High
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-306 · Missing Authentication for Critical Function

CVSS vector

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

nvd-primary

Root cause

A function added for development or support ships to production without authentication. It often relies on the assumption that it is “only reachable from the internal network.”

The bug in code

The whole CWE-306 class

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

Vulnerable

ts
// Added for the support teamapp.post("/maintenance/reset", resetDevice);

Fixed

ts
if (config.maintenanceEnabled) {  app.post(    "/maintenance/reset",    requireSession, requireRole("admin"), resetDevice  );}

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

—

Noroxi analysis

No Noroxi analysis for this record yet

We don't hand-write analysis for all 385,000+ vulnerabilities; 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

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