CVE-2022-22939 Exploit: Information Disclosure Vulnerability in VMware Cloud Foundation SDDC Manager

In this long read post, we will look at the information disclosure vulnerability affecting VMware Cloud Foundation, specifically focusing on the SDDC Manager. We'll analyze the issue, its potential impact and provide a code snippet for demonstration purposes. Finally, we will discuss various resources that can be referred to for further information on this problem.

The Problem - CVE-2022-22939

The vulnerability, dubbed CVE-2022-22939, exists within the VMware Cloud Foundation. It is attributed to the improper logging of credentials in plain-text within multiple log files on the SDDC (Software-Defined Data Center) Manager. Essentially, this vulnerability allows a malicious actor with root access to the VMware Cloud Foundation SDDC Manager to view plaintext credentials within one or more log files.

The CVE-2022-22939 vulnerability is an information disclosure flaw. It occurs due to a failure in ensuring that sensitive information, such as usernames and passwords, is encrypted/secured before being logged. The ability of an attacker to view plaintext credentials could lead to unauthorized access to an organization's resources and potentially a complete compromise of the affected system.

The Code Snippet

Here is a simple code snippet that demonstrates the issue. Please note that this is only for educational purposes and should not be used for any malicious activities.

import os

# Let's assume that the following credentials belong to a VMware Cloud Foundation SDDC Manager instance.
username = 'administrator'
password = 'supersecretpassword'

# The following line writes the credentials in plain-text into a log file.
with open("vmware_log.txt", "a") as log_file:
    log_file.write(f'[INFO] Username: {username} | Password: {password}\n')

# A malicious actor with root access could potentially view the content (including plaintext credentials)
# by simply displaying the log file content.
os.system("cat vmware_log.txt")

This simple Python code snippet demonstrates how the VMware Cloud Foundation SDDC Manager may store the credentials in plain-text, where they can be viewed by an attacker with root access.

Exploit Details

Given that the attacker already has root access to the VMware Cloud Foundation SDDC Manager, they might use this information disclosure vulnerability in the following steps:

1. Search for and identify the log files containing sensitive information – in this case, plaintext credentials.
2. Extract the credentials, gaining unauthorized access to other resources within the organization, possibly leading to a full compromise of the VMware Cloud Foundation instance.
3. Utilize these credentials for further attacks, including lateral movement and privilege escalation within the affected organization's infrastructure.

For more detailed information on CVE-2022-22939, please refer to the following sources

1. VMware Security Advisory - VMSA-2022-XXXX (Replace XXXX with applicable advisory number once available)
2. CVE Details - CVE-2022-22939

In conclusion, CVE-2022-22939 is an information disclosure vulnerability in the VMware Cloud Foundation, specifically affecting the SDDC Manager due to the logging of plaintext credentials within multiple log files. A malicious actor with root access can exploit this vulnerability to gain unauthorized access and potentially compromise the affected system. As a VMware Cloud Foundation user, it's crucial to stay informed and update your environment when a fix becomes available to mitigate this security issue.

Timeline

Published on: 02/04/2022 23:15:00 UTC
Last modified on: 02/10/2022 07:06:00 UTC