Security Resilience

CVE-2020-4006

RCE in Vmware Identity Manager Connector 3.3.1 … 3.3.3

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD ExploitedRCECommand Injection
Published
23 November 2020
Modified
30 October 2025
KEV Added
03 November 2021
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 9.1
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.17 97th percentile
Risk Priority 85 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2020-4006 is a critical-severity OS Command Injection (CWE-78) vulnerability in Vmware Identity Manager Connector. Its CVSS base score is 9.1 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique NTDS (T1003.003); ranked in the top 3% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

VMware Workspace One Access, Access Connector, Identity Manager, and Identity Manager Connector contain a command injection vulnerability tracked as CVE-2020-4006 and assigned CWE-78. The flaw received a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.1 reflecting a network-accessible attack with low complexity that requires high privileges yet produces high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability with changed scope.

An authenticated administrator can supply crafted input that results in arbitrary command execution on the affected appliance, allowing full control over the system and any connected resources. Because the vulnerability is remotely exploitable without user interaction, successful exploitation can lead to complete compromise of the identity-management environment.

The official VMware advisory VMSA-2020-0027 provides mitigation guidance and patch information, while the U.S. CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog lists the issue as actively used in the wild, underscoring the need for immediate remediation.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A05:2025 Injection

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

VMware Workspace One Access, Access Connector, Identity Manager, and Identity Manager Connector address have a command injection vulnerability.

CWE(s)
CWE-78
KEV Date Added
03 November 2021

Related Threats

Threat-Actor AttributionAI

CrowdStrike (McAfee / Symantec civil claims)
Understanding and Mitigating Russian State-Sponsored Cyber Threats to U.S. Critical Infrastructure | CISA
Microsoft Corp. (Salesforce / Slack engineer recruitment claims)
Understanding and Mitigating Russian State-Sponsored Cyber Threats to U.S. Critical Infrastructure | CISA
APT28 (G0007)
Understanding and Mitigating Russian State-Sponsored Cyber Threats to U.S. Critical Infrastructure | CISA
APT29 (G0016)
Understanding and Mitigating Russian State-Sponsored Cyber Threats to U.S. Critical Infrastructure | CISA
Sandworm Team (G0034)
Understanding and Mitigating Russian State-Sponsored Cyber Threats to U.S. Critical Infrastructure | CISA
Dragonfly (G0035)
Understanding and Mitigating Russian State-Sponsored Cyber Threats to U.S. Critical Infrastructure | CISA
AnonOps
Understanding and Mitigating Russian State-Sponsored Cyber Threats to U.S. Critical Infrastructure | CISA

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1003.003 NTDS Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access or create a copy of the Active Directory domain database in order to steal credential information, as well as obtain other information about domain members such as devices, users, and access rights.
attack.mitre.org →
T1007 System Service Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may try to gather information about registered local system services.
attack.mitre.org →
T1010 Application Window Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may attempt to get a listing of open application windows.
attack.mitre.org →
T1021.004 SSH Lateral Movement
Adversaries may use [Valid Accounts](https://attack.
attack.mitre.org →
T1021.008 Direct Cloud VM Connections Lateral Movement
Adversaries may leverage [Valid Accounts](https://attack.
attack.mitre.org →
T1027.001 Binary Padding Stealth
Adversaries may use binary padding to add junk data and change the on-disk representation of malware.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-4577Same product: Microsoft Windowsboth on KEV
CVE-2018-6961Same vendor: Vmwareboth on KEV
CVE-2026-76197Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2025-23316Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2025-69269Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2026-76195Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2023-25925Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2014-7169Same vendor: Vmwareboth on KEV
CVE-2014-6271Same vendor: Vmwareboth on KEV
CVE-2026-14499Same product: Linux Linux Kernel

Affected Assets

vmware
identity manager
3.3.1, 3.3.2, 3.3.3
vmware
identity manager connector
3.3.1, 3.3.2, 3.3.3
vmware
one access
20.01, 20.10
vmware
cloud foundation
4.0, 4.0.1
vmware
vrealize suite lifecycle manager
8.0 — 8.2

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.2.5
  • V1.2.8

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

SC-27 Platform-independent Applications
addresses: CWE-78

Platform-independent apps typically execute inside a managed runtime or sandbox that restricts direct OS command execution, reducing the ability to exploit OS command injection.

SI-10 Information Input Validation
addresses: CWE-78

Validates inputs to block special elements that would alter OS command execution.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
blocks

PR.PS-06's SDLC practices directly require secure coding and input handling that blocks command-injection defects, yet the single broad outcome leaves many specific neutralization vectors and verification gaps unaddressed.

PR.PS-02 partial match
blocks

Routine patching/maintenance can remediate known command-injection CVEs in dependencies (partial forward) but does nothing to stop developers from introducing improper neutralization in custom code (none reverse).

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.5.14 Information transfer partial match
removes
A.5.15 Access control partial match
removes
A.5.16 Identity management partial match
removes
A.5.17 Authentication information partial match
removes
A.5.18 Access rights partial match
removes
A.8.10 Information deletion partial match
removes

References