Server Side Request Forgery in vRealize Operations Manager API (CVE-2021-21975) prior to 8.4 may allow a malicious actor with network access
Server Side Request Forgery in vRealize Operations Manager API (CVE-2021-21975) prior to 8.4 may allow a malicious actor with network access to the vRealize Operations Manager API can perform a Server Side Request Forgery attack to steal administrative credentials.
- Published
- Mar 31, 2021
- Updated
- Aug 12, 2026
- EPSS
- 78.3% · 100th percentile
- CWE
- CWE-918
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Report tools
Action score
83
Now
Patch today or shut off access.
- CVSS
- 30 / 40 · 7.5 / 10
- CISA KEV
- 30 / 30 · Listed
- EPSS
- 23 / 30 · 78.3%
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 Jan 18, 2022. That signals real attacks, not theory.
Remediation deadline for government agencies: Feb 1, 2022.
Known to be used in ransomware campaigns.
Affected systems
| Vendor | Product | CPE |
|---|---|---|
| vmware | cloud foundation | cpe:2.3:a:vmware:cloud_foundation |
| vmware | vrealize operations manager | cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vrealize_operations_manager |
| vmware | vrealize suite lifecycle manager | cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vrealize_suite_lifecycle_manager |
Affected versions
NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.
- vmware cloud foundation3.0
- vmware cloud foundation3.0.1
- vmware cloud foundation3.0.1.1
- vmware cloud foundation3.10
- vmware cloud foundation3.5
- vmware cloud foundation3.5.1
- vmware cloud foundation3.7
- vmware cloud foundation3.7.1
- vmware cloud foundation3.7.2
- vmware cloud foundation3.8
- vmware cloud foundation3.8.1
- vmware cloud foundation3.9
- vmware cloud foundation3.9.1
- vmware cloud foundation4.0
- vmware cloud foundation4.0.1
- vmware vrealize operations manager7.0.0
- vmware vrealize operations manager7.5.0
- vmware vrealize operations manager8.0.0
- vmware vrealize operations manager8.0.1
- vmware vrealize operations manager8.1.0
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 vRealize Operations
- VMware vRealize Operations prior to 8.4affected
Same product
vmware: all recordsOther highest-scoring records for the same primary product.
- CVE-2021-22005The vCenter Server contains an arbitrary file upload vulnerability in the Analytics service.KEV99Now
- CVE-2021-21972The vSphere Client (HTML5) contains a remote code execution vulnerability in a vCenter Server plugin.KEV99Now
- CVE-2020-3992OpenSLP as used in VMware ESXi (7.0 before ESXi_7.0.1-0.0.16850804, 6.7 before ESXi670-202010401-SG, 6.5 before ESXi650-202010401-SG) has a KEV94Now
- CVE-2024-38812Heap-overflow vulnerabilityKEV85Now
- CVE-2021-21973The vSphere Client (HTML5) contains an SSRF (Server Side Request Forgery) vulnerability due to improper validation of URLs in a vCenter ServKEV77This week
- CVE-2024-37079vCenter Server contains a heap-overflow vulnerability in the implementation of the DCERPC protocol.KEV76This 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
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 ×1
- Nuclei detection template ×1
- Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub ×8
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.
| Source | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Metasploit module | exploit/linux/http/vmware_vrops_mgr_ssrf_rceVMware vRealize Operations (vROps) Manager SSRF RCEexploit | 2021-03-30 |
| Nuclei detection template | Nuclei template CVE-2021-21975 | — |
| Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub | stars:12 | 2021-03-31 |
| Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub | stars:2 | 2021-03-31 |
| Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub | stars:13 | 2021-03-31 |
| Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub | stars:27 | 2021-04-01 |
| Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub | stars:4 | 2021-04-02 |
| Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub | stars:37 | 2021-04-06 |
| Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub | stars:3 | 2021-04-10 |
| Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub | stars:0 | 2021-09-29 |
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.
- Metasploit-2 d
- First PoC-1 d
- Published
- CISA KEV+292 d
- TodaySep 29, 2026+2008 d
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
- 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
- none
- Availability
- none
- Attack vector
- Network
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality impact
- High
- Integrity impact
- None
- Availability impact
- None
Weakness class (CWE)
CWE-918 · Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF)CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
nvd-primary
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)
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 helpChange log
No changes recorded on tracked fields yet. Score, KEV, exploit maturity and fix status changes appear here.
References
- www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2021-0004.html
- www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2021-21975
Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.