{"id":"CVE-2021-22048","url":"https://www.cyber-defence.io/tools/cve/CVE-2021-22048","generatedAt":"2026-11-05T00:59:09.095Z","title":"The vCenter Server contains a privilege escalation vulnerability in the IWA (Integrated Windows Authentication) authentication mechanism.","description":"The vCenter Server contains a privilege escalation vulnerability in the IWA (Integrated Windows Authentication) authentication mechanism. A malicious actor with non-administrative access to vCenter Server may exploit this issue to elevate privileges to a higher privileged group.","published":"2021-11-10T18:15:08.000Z","lastModified":"2026-06-17T03:36:36.000Z","status":"Modified","sourceIdentifier":"security@vmware.com","cvss":{"version":"3.1","score":8.8,"severity":"HIGH","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"},"cwe":[],"affected":["vmware/cloud foundation","vmware/vcenter server"],"epss":{"score":0.10296,"percentile":0.95704,"date":"2026-11-03","history":[]},"kev":{"listed":false},"exploits":{"count":0,"verified":false,"firstPublished":null,"source":"Exploit-DB (https://gitlab.com/exploit-database/exploitdb)","entries":[]},"verdict":{"level":"urgent","text":"EPSS puts the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days at 10.3%, higher than 96% of all known CVEs. Patch or mitigate before the next change window."},"changes":[],"references":[{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/167733/VMware-Security-Advisory-2022-0025.2.html","tags":["Release Notes","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"],"source":"security@vmware.com"},{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/167795/VMware-Security-Advisory-2021-0025.3.html","tags":["Release Notes","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"],"source":"security@vmware.com"},{"url":"https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2021-0025.html","tags":["Patch","Vendor Advisory"],"source":"security@vmware.com"},{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/167733/VMware-Security-Advisory-2022-0025.2.html","tags":["Release Notes","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/167795/VMware-Security-Advisory-2021-0025.3.html","tags":["Release Notes","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2021-0025.html","tags":["Patch","Vendor Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"}],"sources":{"nvd":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-22048","epss":"https://www.first.org/epss/","kev":"https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog","exploitdb":"https://www.exploit-db.com/"},"licence":"CC BY 4.0 — link back to the CVE Explorer if you publish the results; upstream data remains subject to its own terms."}