Cleartext storage of sensitive information in vCenter Server - CVE-2019-5534
Published: September 17, 2019
Vulnerability identifier: #VU21149
CSH Severity: Low
CVSS v4: 8.2 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:N/SA:N]
CVE-ID: CVE-2019-5534
CWE-ID: CWE-312
Exploitation vector: Local access
Exploit availability:
No public exploit available
Vulnerability details
The vulnerability allows a local user to gain access to sensitive information.
The vulnerability exists due to VMware vCenter Server stores user credentials of guest operating system in plain text within the vAppConfig properties, when deployed through OVF. A local user of the host operating system with access to vAppConfig properties is able to read log files and gain superuser credentials of deployed guest operating systems.
Affected software
vCenter Server
How to mitigate CVE-2019-5534
Install updates from vendor's website.
vCenter Server - addressed in versions 6.0 U3j, 6.5 U3, 6.7 U3