CVE-2021-22048

Authenticated privilege escalation through undisclosed IWA flaw

Published Nov 10, 2021 · Updated Aug 3, 2024

Privilege escalation in VMware vCenter Server and Cloud Foundation with IWA allows attackers to join a higher-privileged group. VMware identifies Integrated Windows Authentication as the affected locus but has not published which authorization operation incorrectly permits the elevation. Exploitation requires network-adjacent, non-administrative vCenter access and an IWA identity source; success grants permissions assigned to the higher group.

CVSS severity7.1
High
EPSS probability10.30%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
Coverage for this vulnerability

See if you're affected

Explore vulnerability checks for your environment with Hinoki.

Book a demo

Summary

What happened

Privilege escalation in VMware vCenter Server and Cloud Foundation with IWA allows attackers to join a higher-privileged group. VMware identifies Integrated Windows Authentication as the affected locus but has not published which authorization operation incorrectly permits the elevation. Exploitation requires network-adjacent, non-administrative vCenter access and an IWA identity source; success grants permissions assigned to the higher group.

The record

CVE
CVE-2021-22048
Published
Nov 10, 2021
Updated
Aug 3, 2024
Vendor
Unknown vendor
Product
Unknown product
Classifications
T1098
Attack vector
adjacent
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Nov 10, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 3, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Affected buildAffected product and version details are unavailable.

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectoradjacent
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.

Published CVSS scores

8.8NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
6.5NIST NVDAV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:P
7.1VMwareCVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectoradjacent
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1098Account Manipulation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

See the directory against your own environment.

Your stack

Check the software in your environment

Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.

Book a demo