CVE-2023-34060Network attack vector

Unauthenticated appliance access via unsafe PAM defaults

Published Nov 14, 2023 · Updated Dec 16, 2025

Authentication bypass in VMware Cloud Director Appliance 10.5 allows remote attackers to gain unauthorized SSH or management-console access. The affected Photon OS SSSD installation writes unsafe PAM defaults, including sufficient pam_unix.so entries, into /etc/pam.d files. Only appliances upgraded to 10.5 from 10.4.x or earlier are exposed on ports 22 and 5480; fresh 10.5 installations and port 443 are unaffected.

CVSS severity9.8
Critical
EPSS probability1.34%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Authentication bypass in VMware Cloud Director Appliance 10.5 allows remote attackers to gain unauthorized SSH or management-console access. The affected Photon OS SSSD installation writes unsafe PAM defaults, including sufficient pam_unix.so entries, into /etc/pam.d files. Only appliances upgraded to 10.5 from 10.4.x or earlier are exposed on ports 22 and 5480; fresh 10.5 installations and port 443 are unaffected.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-34060
Published
Nov 14, 2023
Updated
Dec 16, 2025
Vendor
VMware
Product
VMware Cloud Director
Classifications
CWE-306, T1190
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Nov 14, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Dec 16, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=10.5 if upgraded from 10.4.x or below.

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

VMware · VMware Cloud Directorversion=10.5 if upgraded from 10.4.x or below.

Published CVSS scores

9.8NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
9.8VMwareCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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.

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No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-306Missing Authentication for Critical Function
T1190Exploit Public-Facing Application

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

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Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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