Threats / VMware / CVE-2021-21975
CVE-2021-21975
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-08-04
VMware vRealize Operations Manager API vulnerability
Server-side request forgery in VMware vRealize Operations Manager API prior to 8.4 allows network-adjacent attackers to steal administrative credentials.
Verdict
Today item, not a backlog item.
A network-accessible SSRF vulnerability in the vRealize Operations Manager API enables credential theft of administrative accounts. Active exploitation and ransomware deployment have been observed in the wild.
CISA KEV Yes · 2022-01-184Ransomware use Flagged4EPSS 0.7829 (verify live)5Exploit Weaponized · public PoC6CVSS 7.5 (CISA)3CISA SSVC Exploitation: active · Automatable: yes · Impact: partial3
01
Is it exploitable?
— the evidence, ranked above the scoreExploit available
Fully weaponized — public exploit code is cataloged for this vulnerability.We link the existence of the exploit; we do not host or redistribute payloads.
Reported exploitation
663 independent public reports of in-the-wild exploitation are cataloged.Distinct reporting sources (vendor, incident response, government); open them for the underlying claims.
Exploited in the wild
Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-01-18), flagged for known ransomware use.
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.7829 — modeled likelihood of exploitation activity.EPSS is a daily-changing model output — open the source for today's value.
Severity / affected
CVSS 7.5 (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N) · Affected: VMware, vRealize Operations Manager API. Confirm exact fixed builds in the vendor advisory.CVSS — CISA-assigned via the ADP container (CVE.org), version 3.1; the CNA left no metrics, so CISA's own score is used ahead of NVD.
Weakness (CWE)
Mapped to CWE-918 Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF).CWE assignment from the public NVD record (may be stale); the weakness class drives how the flaw is exploited.
CISA SSVC (triage disposition)
Exploitation: active · Automatable: yes · Technical Impact: partialCISA's own stakeholder-specific triage inputs, published in the CVE record (CISA Coordinator role). NOTE: this is CISA's three decision points; the final Act/Attend/Track decision also requires a Mission & Well-being input not published here, so no overall decision is asserted.
Currency of the record
CISA added this to its KEV catalog 293 days after the CVE record was published.KEV lag = CISA-KEV dateAdded − CVE.org datePublished; a floor on how long the known-exploited flaw sat in the public record before the federal catalog listed it. Severity/weakness here is CNA- or CISA-assigned (current at disclosure), independent of NVD's analysis backlog.
Public exploit available
Public exploit tooling is catalogued for this CVE (a functional/weaponized public exploit). Catalog entries: Metasploit module, nuclei template. We link the catalog page(s) only — no payload or code is hosted or restated here.Link, never host — the catalog page is the source; basicsecurity.net does not redistribute payloads.
02
Who’s exploiting it?
— attribution turns risk into urgencyAttribution not established
No confirmed (advisory-backed) threat-actor attribution is established for this record. Absence of a named actor is not absence of compromise — see Coverage & confidence.
03
Why it matters
— the attack path, told twice: adversary, then board1
Front door — unauthenticated access narrative 1
Attacker
I craft a malicious request to the vRealize Operations Manager API that causes the server to make an internal request to retrieve administrative credentials.
Business
Administrative credentials are exposed, granting attackers full control over the vRealize Operations Manager infrastructure.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
Using stolen administrative credentials, I gain authenticated access to vRealize Operations Manager and connected systems.
Business
Attackers achieve lateral movement across the virtualization environment and connected enterprise infrastructure.
3
Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3
Attacker
I deploy ransomware payloads across the compromised virtual infrastructure.
Business
Critical virtualization services are encrypted and rendered unavailable, causing operational shutdown and financial extortion.
04
What to do
— defensible action- Remediate per the vendor advisory — confirm the fixed build for your version and verify exposure.1
Say it to the boardA vulnerability with this evidence profile is a defensible budget line, not a backlog ticket — fund the change against the proof above.
05