What is CVE-2021-22005?

CVE-2021-22005 is a critical-severity vulnerability in VMware Cloud Foundation, classified under Path Traversal. CVSS score: 9.8/10. Published 2021-09-23.

How severe is CVE-2021-22005?

Critical severity. CVSS v3 base score is 9.8 out of 10.

Is CVE-2021-22005 known to be exploited?

Yes. CVE-2021-22005 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2021-11-03), indicating it is being actively exploited. 104 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed.

Path Traversal in VMware Cloud Foundation

CVE-2021-22005

The vCenter Server contains an arbitrary file upload vulnerability in the Analytics service. A malicious actor with network access to port 443 on vCenter Server may exploit this issue to execute code on vCenter Server by uploading a specially crafted file.

Vulnerability class: Path Traversal (Directory Traversal)

Published 2021-09-23 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 9.8 (Critical). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 1.000 (100.0th percentile), scored 2026-09-27.

Very high probability of exploitation in the next 30 days — among the top 0.1% most-likely-to-be-exploited CVEs. 100th percentile — 100.0% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

The 30-day trend appears once there are two daily scores.

Affected products

VMware Cloud Foundation
VMware Vcenter Server — versions 6.5, 6.7, 7.0
VMware Vcenter Server, Cloud Foundation — versions VMware vCenter Server(7.x before 7.0 U2c and 6.7 before 6.7 U3o) and VMware Cloud Foundation (4.x before 4.3 and 3.x before 3.10.2.2)

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-22 — Path Traversal

CISA KEV (Known Exploited Vulnerabilities)

This CVE is on the CISA KEV catalog, added on 2021-11-03. CISA KEV inclusion means CISA has confirmed in-the-wild exploitation; US federal agencies are required to remediate within a published due date.

BOD 22-01 due date: 2021-11-17.

Required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Known ransomware campaign use: yes.

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2021-0020.html (Patch, Vendor Advisory)
packetstormsecurity.com/files/164439/VMware-vCenter-Server-Analytics-CEIP-Servi… (Exploit, VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory)
134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0 (US Government Resource)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2021-22005?: CVE-2021-22005 is a critical-severity vulnerability in VMware Cloud Foundation, classified under Path Traversal. CVSS score: 9.8/10. Published 2021-09-23.
How severe is CVE-2021-22005?: Critical severity. CVSS v3 base score is 9.8 out of 10.
Is CVE-2021-22005 known to be exploited?: Yes. CVE-2021-22005 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2021-11-03), indicating it is being actively exploited. 104 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed.