VMware Aria Operations for Networks: code execution flaw under attack

What is affected

VMware Aria Operations for Networks is mostly run by companies, schools and public bodies, not on home computers. You are unlikely to have it yourself, but organisations that hold your data may. Breaches that start with flaws like this one are how personal data ends up leaked.

VMware Aria Operations for Networks (formerly vRealize Network Insight) contains a command injection vulnerability that allows a malicious actor with network access to perform an attack resulting in remote code execution.

What an attacker can do

This is a code execution flaw. It lets an attacker run their own commands or programs on the affected system. In practice that usually means taking it over: installing malware, stealing data or using it to reach other devices on the same network.

How it is reached

Over the internet or network

Access the attacker needs

No account needed

Does the victim have to do something?

No, works without the victim doing anything

What to do

1. At home: nothing to install. Keep your own devices updated and use a different password for every service, so that a breach at one organisation does not open your other accounts.
2. If you administer VMware Aria Operations for Networks at work: apply the vendor's fix or mitigation now and review logs for signs of compromise, because the flaw was being exploited before it was listed.
3. If the product is past its support date and no fix exists, take it off the internet or retire it.

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Vendor advisories and fixes

• vmware.comwww.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2023-0012.html

How urgent is it

CISA added this vulnerability to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on June 22, 2023, which means there is reliable evidence of attacks in the wild. US federal agencies must fix it by July 13, 2023, a deadline that has already passed. That deadline does not bind anyone else, but it shows how seriously the agency rates it.

The EPSS model estimates a 98% probability that this flaw will be exploited somewhere in the next 30 days. That is higher than 99.9% of all scored vulnerabilities.

Its CVSS severity score is 9.8 out of 10 (critical), as recorded in the US National Vulnerability Database.

Technical description

Aria Operations for Networks contains a command injection vulnerability. A malicious actor with network access to VMware Aria Operations for Networks may be able to perform a command injection attack resulting in remote code execution.