Security

Patch vCenter Server Critical Security Bug CVE-2021-22005 Download

Security concerns related to our VMware vSphere environments keep us up at night, and with good reason. Critical security bugs that affect your hypervisor virtualization environment can give an attacker the “keys to the kingdom.” It could potentially allow them to “own” your environment. A new critical vSphere vulnerability that specifically affects vCenter Server is now in the wild, and it is a bad one. It is being tracked as CVE-2021-22005 and it has a CVSS 3.1 severity rating of 9.8/10 – just about as bad as it gets. Let’s take a look at how to Patch vCenter Server critical security bug download. We will also take a look at workarounds to the critical issue.

What is the critical CVE-2021-22005 vCenter Server security bug?

Let’s see what the bug is all about. First, the vulnerability documented in CVE-2021-22005 is a critical vulnerability that allows attackers with only network-level access to upload arbitrary code using the vCenter Server Analytics service. A specially crafted file can allow an attacker to run commands. Again, it only requires access to port 443. as part of the official VMware security advisory, there is an entire bundle of vulnerabilities that are fixed in the latest patch for vCenter Server 6.7 and 7.0.

These include the following CVEs:

  • CVE-2021-21991
  • CVE-2021-21992
  • CVE-2021-21993
  • CVE-2021-22006
  • CVE-2021-22007
  • CVE-2021-22008
  • CVE-2021-22009
  • CVE-2021-22010
  • CVE-2021-22014
  • CVE-2021-22015
  • CVE-2021-22019
  • CVE-2021-22020

The ones in the above list are classified as Important with a CVSS score of 4.3-8.8.

Where can you download the fixed versions?

Follow the links below for the fixed versions of affected products:

vCenter Server 7.0 U2d
Downloads and Documentation:
https://customerconnect.vmware.com/downloads/details?downloadGroup=VC70U2D&productId=974&rPId=74352
https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/7.0/rn/vsphere-vcenter-server-70u2d-release-notes.html


vCenter Server 6.7 U3o
Downloads and Documentation:
https://customerconnect.vmware.com/downloads/details?downloadGroup=VC67U3O&productId=742&rPId=73667
https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.7/rn/vsphere-vcenter-server-67u3o-release-notes.html


vCenter Server 6.5 U3q
Downloads and Documentation:
https://customerconnect.vmware.com/downloads/details?downloadGroup=VC65U3Q&productId=614&rPId=74057
https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.5/rn/vsphere-vcenter-server-65u3q-release-notes.html

VMware vCloud Foundation 4.3.1
Downloads and Documentation:
https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Cloud-Foundation/4.3.1/rn/VMware-Cloud-Foundation-431-Release-Notes.html

VMware vCloud Foundation 3.10.2.2
Downloads and Documentation:
https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Cloud-Foundation/3.10.2/rn/VMware-Cloud-Foundation-3102-Release-Notes.html

Patch vCenter Server Critical Security Bug CVE-2021-22005 Download

There are a few options when it comes to patching vCenter Server. The two we will cover are:

  • VAMI
  • Patch from ISO

VAMI

The most obvious choice for patching your vCenter Server is using the VAMI out-of-band administrator interface for your vCenter Server. By simply checking the Update dashboard, you can pull the latest patch from online and upgrade your vCenter Server. After you click the Update dashboard, click the Check Updates from CDROM and URL. Then verify you are seeing the 7.0.2.00500 patch listed. Click Stage and Install.

Download the vCenter Server critical bug patch using the VAMI interface
Download the vCenter Server critical bug patch using the VAMI interface

This kicks off the wizard with the EULA first.

Accept the EULA
Accept the EULA

Enter your SSO administrator password to move forward.

Enter the SSO administrator password
Enter the SSO administrator password

Make your choice on joining the CEIP program.

Join the CEIP program option
Join the CEIP program option

Verify that you have backed up your vCenter Server. Click Finish.

Backup vCenter Server
Backup vCenter Server

After this, the patch will download, stage, and install.

Patch from ISO

For the patch from ISO approach, the workflow is the following:

  • Download the Appliance patch ISO – https://my.vmware.com/group/vmware/patch
  • Copy the ISO to a datastore or content library that you can mount to your VCSA appliance CD-ROM drive via the vSphere Client.
  • Once the ISO file is mounted, SSH into the VCSA appliance and run the necessary commands to manually patch VMware vCenter Server VCSA with ISO that was uploaded

Download the vCenter Server patch ISO
Download the vCenter Server patch ISO
Mount the ISO file to vCenter Server
Mount the ISO file to vCenter Server

Once you have the ISO downloaded and mounted, SSH into your vCenter Server appliance and run the following commands:

appliancesh
software-packages stage --iso --acceptEulas
software-packages list --staged
software-packages install --staged

Below is a view of my running the commands listed above sequentially. First, SSH into the vCenter Server appliance and enter the appliancesh command.

software-packages stage --iso --acceptEulas
Shelling into the vCenter Server appliance and running the appliancesh command
Shelling into the vCenter Server appliance and running the appliancesh command
software-packages list --staged
ISO mounted successfully and ready to list staged
ISO mounted successfully and ready to list staged
software-packages install --staged
Running the install command and entering the SSO administrator password
Running the install command and entering the SSO administrator password
The patch script begins running and applying the patches
The patch script begins running and applying the patches

After some time, the upgrade process will complete successfully. It will note if a reboot is necessary.

VMware vCenter Server update completed successfully using the patch ISO
VMware vCenter Server update completed successfully using the patch ISO

vCenter Server Security Best Practices

Take a look at the video I posted below covering Center Server security best practices.

Workaround to CVE-2021-22005

Take a look at my blog post and video on how to leverage the vCenter Server firewall to remediate vCenter Server security vulnerabilities:

Video showing how to use vCenter Server firewall to secure vCenter

Final thoughts

This is a bad one folks and one that should certainly get your attention as shown in this Patch vCenter Server Critical Security Bug CVE-2021-22005 Download. Keeping your environment patched with security patches and following best practices to segment your network and secure your vCenter Server from a network perspective will help ensure your attack surface is minimal, even if a new vulnerability is discovered.

Subscribe to VirtualizationHowto via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Brandon Lee

Brandon Lee is the Senior Writer, Engineer and owner at Virtualizationhowto.com and has over two decades of experience in Information Technology. Having worked for numerous Fortune 500 companies as well as in various industries, Brandon has extensive experience in various IT segments and is a strong advocate for open source technologies. Brandon holds many industry certifications, loves the outdoors and spending time with family.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.