Attacker Value
Very High
(2 users assessed)
Exploitability
High
(2 users assessed)
User Interaction
None
Privileges Required
None
Attack Vector
Network
16

CVE-2021-21985

Disclosure Date: May 26, 2021
Exploited in the Wild
Add MITRE ATT&CK tactics and techniques that apply to this CVE.

Description

The vSphere Client (HTML5) contains a remote code execution vulnerability due to lack of input validation in the Virtual SAN Health Check plug-in which is enabled by default in vCenter Server. 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.

Add Assessment

3
Ratings
  • Exploitability
    High
Technical Analysis

Docked exploitability a point because a valid bean and method must be known. See the Rapid7 analysis for more context.

ETA: Cat’s out of the bag. JNDI injection PoC. I’ve confirmed it works. Here are all the beans you can use for this:

vsanCapabilityUtils_setVsanCapabilityCacheManager
vsanFormatUtils_setUserSessionService
vsanProviderUtils_setVmodlHelper
vsanProviderUtils_setVsanServiceFactory
vsanQueryUtil_setDataService
vsanUtils_setMessageBundle
vsphereHealthProviderUtils_setVsphereHealthServiceFactory

For reference, here are all the registered beans in my environment:

advancedOptionsService
capabilityPropertyProviderImpl
ceipService
clusterDpConfigService
cnManager
computeInventoryService
configureClusterService
configureStretchedClusterService
configureVsanClusterMutationProviderImpl
connectionRetention
dataAccessController
dataService
dataServiceExtensionRegistry
datacenterInventoryService
diskGroupMutationService
diskManagementService
dpClient
dpFactory
encryptionMutationProvider
encryptionPropertyProvider
execFactory
execSettings
guardRailPropertyProviderAdapter
hciClusterService
healthCheckDelay
healthCheckTimeout
legacyVsanObjectVersionProviderImpl
localizedMessageBundle
lookupSvcClient
lsFactory
lsLocator
multiVmRestoreBacking
mvcContentNegotiationManager
mvcCorsConfigurations
mvcHandlerMappingIntrospector
mvcUriComponentsContributor
networkInventoryService
networkIpConfigProvider
obfuscationController
obfuscationService
objectReferenceService
org.eclipse.gemini.blueprint.service.exporter.support.OsgiServiceFactoryBean#0
org.eclipse.gemini.blueprint.service.exporter.support.OsgiServiceFactoryBean#1
org.eclipse.gemini.blueprint.service.exporter.support.OsgiServiceFactoryBean#2
org.springframework.context.annotation.internalAsyncAnnotationProcessor
org.springframework.context.annotation.internalAutowiredAnnotationProcessor
org.springframework.context.annotation.internalCommonAnnotationProcessor
org.springframework.context.annotation.internalConfigurationAnnotationProcessor
org.springframework.context.annotation.internalPersistenceAnnotationProcessor
org.springframework.context.annotation.internalRequiredAnnotationProcessor
org.springframework.context.annotation.internalScheduledAnnotationProcessor
org.springframework.context.event.internalEventListenerFactory
org.springframework.context.event.internalEventListenerProcessor
org.springframework.format.support.FormattingConversionServiceFactoryBean#0
org.springframework.web.servlet.handler.BeanNameUrlHandlerMapping
org.springframework.web.servlet.handler.MappedInterceptor#0
org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.HttpRequestHandlerAdapter
org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.SimpleControllerHandlerAdapter
org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.annotation.ResponseStatusExceptionResolver#0
org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.method.annotation.ExceptionHandlerExceptionResolver#0
org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.method.annotation.RequestMappingHandlerAdapter
org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.method.annotation.RequestMappingHandlerMapping
org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.support.DefaultHandlerExceptionResolver#0
org.springframework.web.servlet.view.ContentNegotiatingViewResolver#0
pbmClient
pbmDataProviderImpl
pbmFactory
permissionService
physicalDisksService
proactiveTestsService
promoteActionController
proxygenController
purgeInaccessibleVmSwapObjectsProvider
restoreWorkflowBacking
sessionScheduler
singleVmRestoreBacking
ssoFactory
taskService
updateDbService
userSessionService
vcClient
vcFactory
vcPropertiesFacade
virtualObjectsDataProtectionController
virtualObjectsService
vlsiSettingsTemplate
vmConsistencyGroupPropertyProvider
vmDataProtectionPropertyProviderAdapter
vmDataProtectionSummaryController
vmDataProtectionSyncPointsController
vmDiskPlacementProvider
vmFolderInventorySerivce
vmInventoryService
vmodlContext
vmodlHelper
vsanCapabilityCacheManager
vsanCapabilityUtils_setVsanCapabilityCacheManager
vsanClusterPropertyProviderAdapter
vsanClusterPropertyProviderAdapterImpl
vsanComponentsProviderImpl
vsanConfigPropertyProviderAdapter
vsanConfigPropertyProviderAdapterImpl
vsanConfigService
vsanDiskMappingsProvider
vsanDpInventoryHelper
vsanDpServicePitProvider
vsanExecutor
vsanFolderPropertyProviderAdapter
vsanFolderPropertyProviderAdapterImpl
vsanFormatUtils_setUserSessionService
vsanHealthProviderImpl
vsanHealthServiceMutationProviderImpl
vsanHostPropertyProviderAdapter
vsanIscsiInitiatorGroupMutationProviderImpl
vsanIscsiInitiatorGroupPropertyProviderImpl
vsanIscsiMutationProviderImpl
vsanIscsiPropertyProviderImpl
vsanIscsiTargetDataAdapter
vsanIscsiTargetDataAdapterImpl
vsanIscsiTargetMutationProviderImpl
vsanIscsiTargetPropertyProviderImpl
vsanMutationProviderImpl
vsanObjectSystemProvider
vsanPerfDiagnosticProviderImpl
vsanPerfMutationProviderImpl
vsanPerfProviderImpl
vsanPropertyProviderImpl
vsanProviderUtils_setVmodlHelper
vsanProviderUtils_setVsanServiceFactory
vsanQueryUtil_setDataService
vsanResyncingComponentsProvider
vsanResyncingComponentsRetriever
vsanResyncingIscsiTargetComponentsProvider
vsanServiceBundleActivator
vsanServiceFactory
vsanStretchedClusterMutationProviderImpl
vsanStretchedClusterPropertyProviderImpl
vsanSupportMutationProviderImpl
vsanSupportProviderImpl
vsanThreadPoolImpl
vsanUpgradeMutationProviderImpl
vsanUpgradePropertyProviderAdapter
vsanUpgradeProviderImpl
vsanUtils_setMessageBundle
vsanVirtualDisksDataProvider
vsanVirtualObjectsProvider
vsanWorkerThreadFactory
vsphereHealthProviderUtils_setVsphereHealthServiceFactory
vsphereHealthServiceFactory
vsphereHealthThreadPoolImpl
vumLoginService
vumPropertyProviderAdapter
whatIfPropertyProviderAdapter
whatIfPropertyProviderImpl
witnessCandidateInventoryService
witnessHostsProvider

Note that methodInput is still limited somewhat limited by what ProxygenSerializer can deserialize, so the JNDI injection via static method is good for arbitrary method invocation, callback notwithstanding. Jang (@testanull) points out that TypeConverter can be leveraged to work around this issue. Jang’s writeup is here.

Update: A new RCE chain writeup involving SSRF has been published [by the original researcher].

2
Ratings
Technical Analysis

If the fast and furious exploitation of CVE-2021-21972 earlier this year is any indication, attackers are likely to jump on this latest vCenter Server vulnerability quickly. Exploitation does require network access to port 443, but @hrbrmstr and team already identified thousands of vulnerable vCenter Server instances exposed to the public internet (ouch), and phishing/cred reuse makes relatively easy work for attackers looking for network access. With the prevalence of the ransomware threat to most organizations at the moment, this is one to patch on an emergency basis. We definitely don’t recommend waiting for a typical patch cycle here. See the Rapid7 analysis for further info.

CVSS V3 Severity and Metrics
Base Score:
9.8 Critical
Impact Score:
5.9
Exploitability Score:
3.9
Vector:
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack Vector (AV):
Network
Attack Complexity (AC):
Low
Privileges Required (PR):
None
User Interaction (UI):
None
Scope (S):
Unchanged
Confidentiality (C):
High
Integrity (I):
High
Availability (A):
High

General Information

Products

  • VMware vCenter Server and VMware Cloud Foundation

Exploited in the Wild

Reported by:
Technical Analysis

Threat status: Active threat (exploited in the wild)
Attacker utility: Network infrastructure compromise

Update June 3, 2021: Remote code execution (RCE) proof-of-concept (PoC) details were made public on June 2. Community and Rapid7 researchers have noted the PoC’s use in the wild, making CVE-2021-21985 an active threat.

Description

On Tuesday, May 25, 2021, VMware published security advisory VMSA-2021-0010, which includes details on CVE-2021-21985, a critical remote code execution vulnerability in the vSphere Client (HTML5) component of vCenter Server and VMware Cloud Foundation. The vulnerability arises from lack of input validation in the Virtual SAN Health Check plug-in, which is enabled by default in vCenter Server. Successful exploitation requires network access to port 443 and allows attackers to execute commands with unrestricted privileges on the underlying operating system that hosts vCenter Server. CVE-2021-21985 carries a CVSSv3 base score of 9.8.

VMware has released a blog post and a supplemental FAQ for VMSA-2021-0010, which highlights the elevated threat of ransomware, including against organizations running vCenter Server. As of May 26, 2021, there are no reports of exploitation in the wild—this, however, is unlikely to last.

Affected products

  • vCenter Server 6.5
  • vCenter Server 6.7
  • vCenter Server 7.0
  • Cloud Foundation (vCenter Server) 3.x
  • Cloud Foundation (vCenter Server) 4.x

For information on fixed versions, see the matrix of affected products and updates in VMware’s advisory: https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2021-0010.html

Rapid7 analysis

As with previous vCenter Server vulnerabilities, we classify CVE-2021-21985 as an impending threat: It is a high-value attack target for both advanced and commodity threat actors, and we expect exploitation to occur quickly and at scale. As of May 26, 2021, Rapid7 Labs identified roughly 6,000 vCenter Server instances exposed to the public internet.

Patch

The following changes add authentication to the Virtual SAN Health Check plugin’s /rest/* endpoints:

--- a/unpatched/src/h5-vsan-context.jar/WEB-INF/web.xml
+++ b/patched/src/h5-vsan-context.jar/WEB-INF/web.xml
@@ -5,6 +5,21 @@

    <display-name>h5-vsan-service</display-name>

+   <context-param>
+      <param-name>contextConfigLocation</param-name>
+      <param-value>/WEB-INF/spring/bundle-context.xml</param-value>
+   </context-param>
+
+   <!-- The application context needs to be OSGI-enabled in order to look up services -->
+   <context-param>
+      <param-name>contextClass</param-name>
+      <param-value>org.eclipse.virgo.web.dm.ServerOsgiBundleXmlWebApplicationContext</param-value>
+   </context-param>
+
+   <listener>
+      <listener-class>org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoaderListener</listener-class>
+   </listener>
+
    <!-- Processes application requests -->
    <servlet>
       <servlet-name>springServlet</servlet-name>
@@ -12,7 +27,7 @@

       <init-param>
          <param-name>contextConfigLocation</param-name>
-         <param-value>/WEB-INF/spring/bundle-context.xml</param-value>
+         <param-value>/WEB-INF/spring/empy-context.xml</param-value>
       </init-param>

       <!-- The application context needs to be OSGI-enabled in order to look up services -->
@@ -40,4 +55,14 @@
       <url-pattern>/*</url-pattern>
    </filter-mapping>

+   <filter>
+      <filter-name>authenticationFilter</filter-name>
+      <filter-class>com.vmware.vsan.client.services.AuthenticationFilter</filter-class>
+   </filter>
+
+   <filter-mapping>
+      <filter-name>authenticationFilter</filter-name>
+      <url-pattern>/rest/*</url-pattern>
+   </filter-mapping>
+
 </web-app>
package com.vmware.vsan.client.services;

import com.vmware.vise.usersession.UserSessionService;
import java.io.IOException;
import javax.servlet.Filter;
import javax.servlet.FilterChain;
import javax.servlet.FilterConfig;
import javax.servlet.ServletException;
import javax.servlet.ServletRequest;
import javax.servlet.ServletResponse;
import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;
import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse;
import org.slf4j.Logger;
import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
import org.springframework.beans.factory.config.AutowireCapableBeanFactory;
import org.springframework.web.context.WebApplicationContext;
import org.springframework.web.context.support.WebApplicationContextUtils;

public class AuthenticationFilter implements Filter {
  private static final Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(AuthenticationFilter.class);

  @Autowired
  private UserSessionService userSessionService;

  public void init(FilterConfig filterConfig) {
    WebApplicationContext context = WebApplicationContextUtils.getWebApplicationContext(filterConfig.getServletContext());
    AutowireCapableBeanFactory factory = context.getAutowireCapableBeanFactory();
    factory.autowireBean(this);
  }

  public void doFilter(ServletRequest request, ServletResponse response, FilterChain filterChain) throws IOException, ServletException {
    if (this.userSessionService.getUserSession() == null) {
      HttpServletRequest httpRequest = (HttpServletRequest)request;
      HttpServletResponse httpResponse = (HttpServletResponse)response;
      logger.warn(String.format("Null session detected for a %s request to %s", new Object[] { httpRequest.getMethod(), httpRequest.getRequestURL() }));
      httpResponse.setStatus(401);
      return;
    }
    filterChain.doFilter(request, response);
  }

  public void destroy() {}
}

Furthermore, additional input validation was added to the com.vmware.vsan.client.services.ProxygenController class:

--- a/unpatched/src/h5-vsan-service.jar/com/vmware/vsan/client/services/ProxygenController.java
+++ b/patched/src/h5-vsan-service.jar/com/vmware/vsan/client/services/ProxygenController.java
@@ -1,151 +1,152 @@
 package com.vmware.vsan.client.services;

 import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableMap;
 import com.google.gson.Gson;
+import com.vmware.proxygen.ts.TsService;
 import com.vmware.vim.binding.vmodl.LocalizableMessage;
 import com.vmware.vim.binding.vmodl.MethodFault;
 import com.vmware.vim.binding.vmodl.RuntimeFault;
 import com.vmware.vsphere.client.vsan.util.MessageBundle;
 import java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException;
 import java.lang.reflect.Method;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 import org.apache.commons.lang.StringUtils;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 import org.springframework.beans.BeansException;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanFactory;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
 import org.springframework.stereotype.Controller;
 import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.PathVariable;
 import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestBody;
 import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMapping;
 import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMethod;
 import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestParam;
 import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.ResponseBody;
 import org.springframework.web.multipart.MultipartFile;

 @Controller
 @RequestMapping({"/proxy"})
 public class ProxygenController extends RestControllerBase {
   private static final Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(ProxygenController.class);

   @Autowired
   private BeanFactory beanFactory;

   @Autowired
   private MessageBundle messages;

   @RequestMapping(value = {"/service/{beanIdOrClassName}/{methodName}"}, method = {RequestMethod.POST}, consumes = {"application/json"}, produces = {"application/json"})
   @ResponseBody
   public Object invokeServiceWithJson(@PathVariable("beanIdOrClassName") String beanIdOrClassName, @PathVariable("methodName") String methodName, @RequestBody Map<String, Object> body) throws Exception {
     List<Object> rawData = null;
     try {
       rawData = (List<Object>)body.get("methodInput");
     } catch (Exception e) {
       logger.error("service method failed to extract input data", e);
       return handleException(e);
     }
     return invokeService(beanIdOrClassName, methodName, null, rawData);
   }

   @RequestMapping(value = {"/service/{beanIdOrClassName}/{methodName}"}, method = {RequestMethod.POST}, consumes = {"multipart/form-data"}, produces = {"application/json"})
   @ResponseBody
   public Object invokeServiceWithMultipartFormData(@PathVariable("beanIdOrClassName") String beanIdOrClassName, @PathVariable("methodName") String methodName, @RequestParam("file") MultipartFile[] files, @RequestParam("methodInput") String rawData) throws Exception {
     List<Object> data = null;
     try {
       Gson gson = new Gson();
       data = (List<Object>)gson.fromJson(rawData, List.class);
     } catch (Exception e) {
       logger.error("service method failed to extract input data", e);
       return handleException(e);
     }
     return invokeService(beanIdOrClassName, methodName, files, data);
   }

   private Object invokeService(String beanIdOrClassName, String methodName, MultipartFile[] files, List<Object> data) throws Exception {
     try {
       Object bean = null;
       String beanName = null;
       Class<?> beanClass = null;
       try {
         beanClass = Class.forName(beanIdOrClassName);
         beanName = StringUtils.uncapitalize(beanClass.getSimpleName());
       } catch (ClassNotFoundException classNotFoundException) {
         beanName = beanIdOrClassName;
       }
       try {
         bean = this.beanFactory.getBean(beanName);
       } catch (BeansException beansException) {
         bean = this.beanFactory.getBean(beanClass);
       }
       byte b;
       int i;
       Method[] arrayOfMethod;
       for (i = (arrayOfMethod = bean.getClass().getMethods()).length, b = 0; b < i; ) {
         Method method = arrayOfMethod[b];
-        if (!method.getName().equals(methodName)) {
+        if (!method.getName().equals(methodName) || !method.isAnnotationPresent((Class)TsService.class)) {
           b++;
           continue;
         }
         ProxygenSerializer serializer = new ProxygenSerializer();
         Object[] methodInput = serializer.deserializeMethodInput(data, files, method);
         Object result = method.invoke(bean, methodInput);
         Map<String, Object> map = new HashMap<>();
         map.put("result", serializer.serialize(result));
         return map;
       }
     } catch (Exception e) {
       logger.error("service method failed to invoke", e);
       return handleException(e);
     }
     logger.error("service method not found: " + methodName + " @ " + beanIdOrClassName);
     return handleException(null);
   }

   private Object handleException(Throwable t) {
     if (t instanceof InvocationTargetException)
       return handleException(((InvocationTargetException)t).getTargetException());
     if (t instanceof java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException && t.getCause() != t)
       return handleException(t.getCause());
     if (t instanceof com.vmware.vise.data.query.DataException && t.getCause() != t)
       return handleException(t.getCause());
     if (t instanceof com.vmware.vim.vmomi.client.common.UnexpectedStatusCodeException)
       return ImmutableMap.of("error", this.messages.string("util.dataservice.notRespondingFault"));
     if (t instanceof VsanUiLocalizableException) {
       VsanUiLocalizableException localizableException = (VsanUiLocalizableException)t;
       return ImmutableMap.of("error", this.messages.string(
             localizableException.getErrorKey(), localizableException.getParams()));
     }
     LocalizableMessage[] faultMessage = null;
     String vmodlMessage = null;
     if (t instanceof MethodFault) {
       faultMessage = ((MethodFault)t).getFaultMessage();
       vmodlMessage = ((MethodFault)t).getMessage();
     } else if (t instanceof RuntimeFault) {
       faultMessage = ((RuntimeFault)t).getFaultMessage();
       vmodlMessage = ((RuntimeFault)t).getMessage();
     }
     if (faultMessage != null) {
       byte b;
       int i;
       LocalizableMessage[] arrayOfLocalizableMessage;
       for (i = (arrayOfLocalizableMessage = faultMessage).length, b = 0; b < i; ) {
         LocalizableMessage localizable = arrayOfLocalizableMessage[b];
         if (localizable.getMessage() != null && !localizable.getMessage().isEmpty())
           return ImmutableMap.of("error", localizeFault(localizable.getMessage()));
         if (localizable.getKey() != null && !localizable.getKey().isEmpty())
           return ImmutableMap.of("error", localizeFault(localizable.getKey()));
         b++;
       }
     }
     if (StringUtils.isNotBlank(vmodlMessage))
       return ImmutableMap.of("error", vmodlMessage);
     return ImmutableMap.of("error", this.messages.string("vsan.common.generic.error"));
   }

   private String localizeFault(String key) {
     return key;
   }
 }

Which appears to be vulnerable to Java unsafe reflection:

unpatched/src/h5-vsan-service.jar/com/vmware/vsan/client/services/ProxygenController.java
severity:warning rule:java.lang.security.audit.unsafe-reflection.unsafe-reflection: If an attacker can supply values that the application then uses to determine which class to instantiate or which method to invoke,
the potential exists for the attacker to create control flow paths through the application
that were not intended by the application developers.
This attack vector may allow the attacker to bypass authentication or access control checks
or otherwise cause the application to behave in an unexpected manner.

73:        beanClass = Class.forName(beanIdOrClassName);

PoC

Affected endpoints are under /ui/h5-vsan/rest/proxy/service/ and respond to POST request:

wvu@kharak:~$ curl -kv https://192.168.161.2/ui/h5-vsan/rest/proxy/service/CLASS/METHOD -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d {}
*   Trying 192.168.161.2...
* TCP_NODELAY set
* Connected to 192.168.161.2 (192.168.161.2) port 443 (#0)
* ALPN, offering h2
* ALPN, offering http/1.1
* successfully set certificate verify locations:
*   CAfile: /etc/ssl/cert.pem
  CApath: none
* TLSv1.2 (OUT), TLS handshake, Client hello (1):
* TLSv1.2 (IN), TLS handshake, Server hello (2):
* TLSv1.2 (IN), TLS handshake, Certificate (11):
* TLSv1.2 (IN), TLS handshake, Server key exchange (12):
* TLSv1.2 (IN), TLS handshake, Server finished (14):
* TLSv1.2 (OUT), TLS handshake, Client key exchange (16):
* TLSv1.2 (OUT), TLS change cipher, Change cipher spec (1):
* TLSv1.2 (OUT), TLS handshake, Finished (20):
* TLSv1.2 (IN), TLS change cipher, Change cipher spec (1):
* TLSv1.2 (IN), TLS handshake, Finished (20):
* SSL connection using TLSv1.2 / ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384
* ALPN, server did not agree to a protocol
* Server certificate:
*  subject: CN=192.168.161.2; C=US
*  start date: May 28 00:29:04 2021 GMT
*  expire date: May 23 00:29:02 2031 GMT
*  issuer: CN=CA; DC=vsphere; DC=local; C=US; ST=California; O=photon-machine; OU=VMware Engineering
*  SSL certificate verify result: unable to get local issuer certificate (20), continuing anyway.
> POST /ui/h5-vsan/rest/proxy/service/CLASS/METHOD HTTP/1.1
> Host: 192.168.161.2
> User-Agent: curl/7.64.1
> Accept: */*
> Content-Type: application/json
> Content-Length: 2
>
* upload completely sent off: 2 out of 2 bytes
< HTTP/1.1 200
< Set-Cookie: JSESSIONID=57366FD1A729FCB43AA08B8304B1B4B6; Path=/ui/h5-vsan; Secure; HttpOnly
< Content-Type: application/json;charset=UTF-8
< Transfer-Encoding: chunked
< Date: Fri, 28 May 2021 15:45:14 GMT
< Server: Anonymous
<
* Connection #0 to host 192.168.161.2 left intact
{"error":"CLASS cannot be found by com.vmware.vsphere.client.h5vsan-6.7.0.20000-com.vmware.vsan.client.h5-vsan-service_6.5.0.11397901-storage-main in KernelBundleClassLoader: [bundle=com.vmware.vsphere.client.h5vsan-6.7.0.20000-com.vmware.vsan.client.h5-vsan-service_6.5.0.11397901-storage-main]"}* Closing connection 0
wvu@kharak:~$

Note that this PoC does not achieve RCE on its own, as validation is performed against CLASS and METHOD. Supplemental analysis can be found here.

IOCs

The default log location for Virtual SAN health check plugin is /var/log/vmware/vsan-health. And user can change it by modifying the configuration item “logdir” in the configuration file under /usr/lib/vmware-vpx/vsan-health. On the vCenter Server for Windows, the file is located in %VMWARE_LOG_DIR%\vsan-health. No security related information is logged in the log file.

https://www.vmware.com/content/dam/digitalmarketing/vmware/en/pdf/products/products/vsan/vmw-gdl-vsan-health-check.pdf

Testing the PoC, only /var/log/vmware/vsphere-ui/logs/vsphere_client_virgo.log contained suspicious log entries:

==> /var/log/vmware/vsphere-ui/logs/vsphere_client_virgo.log <==
[2021-05-28T15:45:14.391Z] [ERROR] http-nio-5090-exec-5          com.vmware.vsan.client.services.ProxygenController                service method failed to invoke org.eclipse.virgo.kernel.osgi.framework.ExtendedClassNotFoundException: CLASS cannot be found by com.vmware.vsphere.client.h5vsan-6.7.0.20000-com.vmware.vsan.client.h5-vsan-service_6.5.0.11397901-storage-main in KernelBundleClassLoader: [bundle=com.vmware.vsphere.client.h5vsan-6.7.0.20000-com.vmware.vsan.client.h5-vsan-service_6.5.0.11397901-storage-main]
	at org.eclipse.virgo.kernel.userregion.internal.equinox.KernelBundleClassLoader.loadClass(KernelBundleClassLoader.java:150)
	at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:357)
	at java.lang.Class.forName0(Native Method)
	at java.lang.Class.forName(Class.java:264)
	at com.vmware.vsan.client.services.ProxygenController.invokeService(ProxygenController.java:69)
	at sun.reflect.GeneratedMethodAccessor532.invoke(Unknown Source)
	at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
	at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:498)
	at org.springframework.web.method.support.InvocableHandlerMethod.doInvoke(InvocableHandlerMethod.java:205)
	at org.springframework.web.method.support.InvocableHandlerMethod.invokeForRequest(InvocableHandlerMethod.java:133)
	at org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.method.annotation.ServletInvocableHandlerMethod.invokeAndHandle(ServletInvocableHandlerMethod.java:97)
	at org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.method.annotation.RequestMappingHandlerAdapter.invokeHandlerMethod(RequestMappingHandlerAdapter.java:827)
	at org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.method.annotation.RequestMappingHandlerAdapter.handleInternal(RequestMappingHandlerAdapter.java:738)
	at org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.method.AbstractHandlerMethodAdapter.handle(AbstractHandlerMethodAdapter.java:85)
	at org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet.doDispatch(DispatcherServlet.java:967)
	at org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet.doService(DispatcherServlet.java:901)
	at org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet.processRequest(FrameworkServlet.java:970)
	at org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet.doPost(FrameworkServlet.java:872)
	at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:661)
	at org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet.service(FrameworkServlet.java:846)
	at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:742)
	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:231)
	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:166)
	at org.apache.tomcat.websocket.server.WsFilter.doFilter(WsFilter.java:52)
	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:193)
	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:166)
	at com.vmware.vise.security.SessionManagementFilter.doFilter(SessionManagementFilter.java:201)
	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:193)
	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:166)
	at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardWrapperValve.invoke(StandardWrapperValve.java:198)
	at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContextValve.invoke(StandardContextValve.java:96)
	at org.apache.catalina.authenticator.AuthenticatorBase.invoke(AuthenticatorBase.java:493)
	at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHostValve.invoke(StandardHostValve.java:140)
	at org.apache.catalina.valves.ErrorReportValve.invoke(ErrorReportValve.java:81)
	at org.apache.catalina.valves.RemoteIpValve.invoke(RemoteIpValve.java:685)
	at org.eclipse.virgo.web.tomcat.support.ApplicationNameTrackingValve.invoke(ApplicationNameTrackingValve.java:33)
	at org.apache.catalina.valves.AbstractAccessLogValve.invoke(AbstractAccessLogValve.java:650)
	at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngineValve.invoke(StandardEngineValve.java:87)
	at org.apache.catalina.connector.CoyoteAdapter.service(CoyoteAdapter.java:342)
	at org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Processor.service(Http11Processor.java:800)
	at org.apache.coyote.AbstractProcessorLight.process(AbstractProcessorLight.java:66)
	at org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol$ConnectionHandler.process(AbstractProtocol.java:800)
	at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.NioEndpoint$SocketProcessor.doRun(NioEndpoint.java:1471)
	at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.SocketProcessorBase.run(SocketProcessorBase.java:49)
	at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1149)
	at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:624)
	at org.apache.tomcat.util.threads.TaskThread$WrappingRunnable.run(TaskThread.java:61)
	at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:748)
Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: CLASS cannot be found by com.vmware.vsphere.client.h5vsan-6.7.0.20000-com.vmware.vsan.client.h5-vsan-service_6.5.0.11397901-storage-main
	at org.eclipse.osgi.internal.loader.BundleLoader.findClassInternal(BundleLoader.java:501)
	at org.eclipse.osgi.internal.loader.BundleLoader.findClass(BundleLoader.java:421)
	at org.eclipse.osgi.internal.loader.BundleLoader.findClass(BundleLoader.java:412)
	at org.eclipse.osgi.internal.baseadaptor.DefaultClassLoader.loadClass(DefaultClassLoader.java:107)
	at org.eclipse.virgo.kernel.userregion.internal.equinox.KernelBundleClassLoader.loadClass(KernelBundleClassLoader.java:146)
	... 47 common frames omitted

The vCenter Server logs are placed in a different directory on disk depending on vCenter Server version and the deployed platform:

  • vCenter Server 6.x and higher versions on Windows server: C:\ProgramData\VMware\vCenterServer\Logs\
  • vCenter Server Appliance 6.x: /var/log/vmware/
  • vCenter Server Appliance 6.x flash: /var/log/vmware/vsphere-client
  • vCenter Server Appliance 6.x HTML5: /var/log/vmware/vsphere-ui

https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/1021804

This article provides steps to increase the size and number of the hostd, vpxa, and vpxd logs so that additional data is saved. This data may be useful for troubleshooting purposes.

https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/1004795

Guidance

Organizations should update to an unaffected version of vCenter Server immediately, without waiting for their regular patch cycles. Those with emergency patch or incident response procedures should consider invoking them, particularly if their implementations of vCenter Server are (or were recently) exposed to the public internet. If you are unable to patch immediately, VMware has instructions on disabling the Virtual SAN Health Check plugin here. Note that while disabling the plugin may mitigate exploitability, it does not remove the vulnerability.

Network administrators should ensure that vCenter Server is not exposed to the internet.

References