Threats / VMware / CVE-2022-22948
CVE-2022-22948
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-09-19
VMware vCenter Server vulnerability
VMware vCenter Server contains incorrect default file permissions that allow a privileged remote attacker to access sensitive information.
Verdict
Today item — known-exploited.
A privileged attacker can exploit default file permission settings in vCenter Server to read sensitive data. This vulnerability has been observed in active exploitation and requires administrative or equivalent access to trigger.
CISA KEV Yes · 2024-07-174EPSS 0.13282 (verify live)5CVSS 6.5 (CISA)3CISA SSVC Exploitation: active · Automatable: no · Impact: total3Exploit Public PoC / detection · Metasploit module12
01
Is it exploitable?
— the evidence, ranked above the scoreReported exploitation
4 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 2024-07-17).
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.13282 — modeled likelihood of exploitation activity.EPSS is a daily-changing model output — open the source for today's value.
Severity / affected
CVSS 6.5 (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N) · Affected: VMware, vCenter Server. 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-276 Incorrect Default Permissions — weakness family: Authorization / access control.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: no · Technical Impact: totalCISA'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 841 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 public proof-of-concept / detection template). Catalog entries: Metasploit module. 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 authenticate to vCenter Server with administrative credentials or equivalent privilege level.
Business
Insider threats or compromised administrative accounts create direct pathways to sensitive infrastructure data.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
I identify files with overly permissive default access controls that expose sensitive configuration or credential material.
Business
Sensitive data exposure undermines confidentiality controls and increases risk of secondary compromise.
3
Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3
Attacker
I read protected files containing authentication tokens, encryption keys, or system configuration details.
Business
Disclosure of cryptographic material or credentials enables lateral movement and persistent access across the virtualized environment.
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
Coverage & confidence
— what we know, and what we don’tEstablished (cited)
Coverage gaps — stated, not hidden
Disclosure & credit2
Catalogued by vmwareCNA
Credited with finding itNo finder is named in the public CVE record or the scanned vendor advisory — attribution scoped to the sources checked.
Found an error? Propose a correction.
A correction is a cited counter-claim — it must cite a source,
gets reviewed by a second human, and is never auto-applied. See the
correction convention and our identity
npub1j7gt9ky7sfcrjn8jjee6693dkzvk4rahs0fk2suu7968dfns62zs3mqm3y.