VulnerabilityPublished 25 Feb 2026Updated 27 Feb 2026

CVE-2026-22721: VMware Aria Operations · Improper Privilege Management

Affects VMware Aria OperationsSource CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.2 Medium.

Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 06:59 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

6.2Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.7% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 54% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: High
Privileges Required: High
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: High
Availability: Low

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: High: A successful attack depends on conditions beyond the attacker's control. That is, a successful attack cannot be accomplished at will, but requires the attacker to invest in some measurable amount of effort in preparation or execution against the vulnerable component before a successful attack can be expected. For example, a successful attack may require an attacker to: gather knowledge about the environment in which the vulnerable target/component exists; prepare the target environment to improve exploit reliability; or inject themselves into the logical network path between the target and the resource requested by the victim in order to read and/or modify network communications (e.g., a man in the middle attack).
Privileges Required: High: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide significant (e.g., administrative) control over the vulnerable component that could affect component-wide settings and files.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.
Availability: Low: Performance is reduced or there are interruptions in resource availability. Even if repeated exploitation of the vulnerability is possible, the attacker does not have the ability to completely deny service to legitimate users. The resources in the impacted component are either partially available all of the time, or fully available only some of the time, but overall there is no direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 25 Feb 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 29 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
VMwareVMware Aria Operations	Affected >=8.18.0 <8.18.6	Fixed in–
VMwareVMware Cloud Foundation	Affected >=4.0 <5.2.3 >=9.0 <9.0.2	Fixed in–
VMwareVMware Telco Cloud Platform	Affected >=4.0 <5.2.3	Fixed in–
VMwareVMware Telco Cloud Infrastructure	Affected >=2.0 <5.2.3	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2026-22721, organizations should promptly apply the patches provided by VMware as detailed in the VMSA-2026-0001 advisory. Beyond patching, organizations should enforce strict access controls and least privilege principles within vCenter and Aria Operations to minimize the number of users with high-level privileges. Regularly audit user permissions and monitor for unusual privilege escalations or administrative activity within Aria Operations. Implement network segmentation to restrict access to management interfaces and use multi-factor authentication for vCenter access to reduce the risk of credential compromise. Additionally, maintain up-to-date logging and alerting mechanisms to detect potential exploitation attempts early. Conduct periodic security assessments and penetration testing focused on privilege management controls in the VMware environment to identify and remediate weaknesses proactively.

Description

VMware Aria Operations contains a privilege escalation vulnerability. A malicious actor with privileges in vCenter to access Aria Operations may leverage this vulnerability to obtain administrative access in VMware Aria Operations. To remediate CVE-2026-22721, apply the patches listed in the 'Fixed Version' column of the 'Response Matrix' found in VMSA-2026-0001 https://support.broadcom.com/web/ecx/support-content-notification/-/external/content/SecurityAdvisories/0/36947 .

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2026-22721 is unauthorized privilege escalation within VMware Aria Operations, which can lead to full administrative control over the platform. This can compromise the confidentiality and integrity of monitoring and operational data managed by Aria Operations, potentially allowing attackers to manipulate performance metrics, mask malicious activities, or disrupt operational visibility. Although availability impact is low, the loss of administrative control can facilitate further attacks within the virtualized environment, including lateral movement and persistence. Organizations relying on VMware Aria Operations for infrastructure monitoring and management, especially in large-scale virtualized data centers, cloud environments, and critical infrastructure sectors, face increased risk of operational disruption and data compromise. The requirement for existing vCenter privileges limits the attack surface but does not eliminate risk, particularly in environments with multiple administrators or where credential compromise is possible.

Summary

CVE-2026-22721 is a vulnerability identified in VMware Aria Operations version 8.18.0 that allows privilege escalation due to improper privilege management (CWE-269). Specifically, a malicious actor who already has privileges in vCenter to access Aria Operations can leverage this vulnerability to elevate their privileges to administrative level within Aria Operations. This escalation occurs because the system does not adequately enforce privilege boundaries, permitting users with certain access rights to gain unauthorized administrative capabilities. The vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.2, reflecting a medium severity level. The attack vector is network-based (AV:N), requires high attack complexity (AC:H), and privileges at the vCenter level (PR:H), but no user interaction (UI:N). The impact includes high confidentiality and integrity loss, with low impact on availability. VMware has addressed this issue by releasing patches as outlined in their security advisory VMSA-2026-0001. No public exploits have been reported, but the vulnerability poses a significant risk in environments where vCenter and Aria Operations are deployed together. Proper patching and privilege management are critical to mitigating this threat.

CWE-269Improper Privilege Management (opens in a new tab)
Class weaknessLikelihood of exploit: MediumOWASP Top 10 A06:2025: Insecure Design (opens in a new tab)
The product does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor.
MITRE discourages mapping vulnerabilities to this broad entry; the root cause is usually a more specific weakness.
Architecture and Design · Operation
Very carefully manage the setting, management, and handling of privileges. Explicitly manage trust zones in the software.
Architecture and Design · Separation of Privilege
Follow the principle of least privilege when assigning access rights to entities in a software system.
Architecture and Design · Separation of Privilege
Consider following the principle of separation of privilege. Require multiple conditions to be met before permitting access to a system resource.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Docker Security (opens in a new tab)
Third Party Javascript Management (opens in a new tab)
Virtual Patching (opens in a new tab)
Secure Design Principles (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V1.4.4 (opens in a new tab)
V1.4.5 (opens in a new tab)
V1.10.1 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Restful Privilege Elevation (opens in a new tab)
Privilege Abuse (opens in a new tab)
Privilege Escalation (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 5 Mar 2026, 09:56 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-269

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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