{
    "id": "CVE-2021-21972",
    "published": "2021-02-24 17:15:15",
    "last_modified": "2026-08-12 05:17:35",
    "cvss_score": "9.8",
    "cvss_severity": "CRITICAL",
    "cvss_version": "3.1",
    "cvss_vector": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
    "cwe": "CWE-22",
    "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).",
    "epss_score": "0.99865",
    "epss_percentile": "0.99962",
    "kev": 1,
    "kev_due": "2021-11-17",
    "has_exploit": 1,
    "updated_at": "2026-09-26 18:27:08",
    "priority": {
        "rank": 1,
        "label": "Patch first",
        "why": "On CISA KEV — known exploited in the wild, due 2021-11-17."
    },
    "products": [
        {
            "vendor": "vmware",
            "product": "cloud_foundation"
        },
        {
            "vendor": "vmware",
            "product": "vcenter_server"
        }
    ],
    "kev_detail": {
        "cve_id": "CVE-2021-21972",
        "date_added": "2021-11-03",
        "due_date": "2021-11-17",
        "vendor": "VMware",
        "product": "vCenter Server",
        "name": "VMware vCenter Server Remote Code Execution Vulnerability",
        "ransomware": 1
    },
    "exploits": [
        {
            "source": "exploit-db",
            "ref_id": "50056",
            "title": "VMware vCenter Server 7.0 - Remote Code Execution (RCE) (Unauthenticated)",
            "date": "2021-06-24",
            "url": "https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/50056"
        },
        {
            "source": "exploit-db",
            "ref_id": "49602",
            "title": "VMware vCenter Server 7.0 - Unauthenticated File Upload",
            "date": "2021-03-01",
            "url": "https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/49602"
        }
    ],
    "refs_list": [
        "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",
        "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",
        "https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2021-0002.html",
        "https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2021-21972"
    ]
}