Cyber Resilience

CVE-2022-31706

Path Traversal in Vmware Vrealize Log Insight 3.0 – 4.8

Public PoCHigh EPSSPath Traversal
Published
26 January 2023
Modified
02 April 2025
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 9.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.87 99.7th percentile
Risk Priority 97 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2022-31706 is a critical-severity Path Traversal (CWE-22) vulnerability in Vmware Vrealize Log Insight. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, ranked in the top 0.3% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to IA-2 (Identification and Authentication (Organizational Users)) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

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

The vRealize Log Insight appliance is affected by a directory traversal vulnerability tracked as CVE-2022-31706. The flaw, assigned CWE-22, permits an unauthenticated remote actor to inject arbitrary files onto the underlying operating system, which can be leveraged for remote code execution. It carries a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.8 reflecting network-accessible attack complexity with no required credentials or user interaction.

An attacker can send specially crafted requests to the affected appliance to write malicious files and subsequently execute code, resulting in full compromise of the system confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The vulnerability is exploitable over the network without authentication, enabling any remote adversary to achieve these outcomes.

VMware’s advisory VMSA-2023-0001 addresses the issue and provides remediation guidance for impacted versions of vRealize Log Insight. Public exploit code demonstrating unauthenticated remote code execution has been published, and the CVE maintains an EPSS score of 0.9018, indicating sustained exploitation interest since disclosure.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

The vRealize Log Insight contains a Directory Traversal Vulnerability. An unauthenticated, malicious actor can inject files into the operating system of an impacted appliance which can result in remote code execution.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

Likely ATT&CK TechniquesAI

Techniques this vulnerability likely enables, inferred from its description, weakness type, and attributed-actor tradecraft. Confidence is per-technique.

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Accessconfidence: HIGH
Unauthenticated network requests allow arbitrary file write leading to remote code execution on a public-facing appliance.
T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter Executionconfidence: HIGH
Arbitrary file write enables the attacker to place and execute malicious scripts or binaries on the target system.
T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer Command And Controlconfidence: MEDIUM
The directory traversal can be used to upload attacker-controlled payloads onto the appliance.
inferred from description + CWE · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

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CVE-2026-41843Same vendor: Vmware
CVE-2021-22005Same vendor: Vmware
CVE-2023-31131Same vendor: Vmware
CVE-2026-41863Same vendor: Vmware
CVE-2020-5410Same vendor: Vmware
CVE-2020-11652Same vendor: Vmware

Affected Assets

vmware
vrealize log insight
3.0 — 4.8 · 8.0.0 — 8.10.2

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • IA-2 Identification and Authentication (Organizational Users)
  • SI-10 Information Input Validation
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)
  • SI-7 Software, Firmware, and Information Integrity
Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V5.3.2

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Requires identification and authentication of users before allowing access to the vRealize Log Insight appliance, directly blocking the unauthenticated remote actor described in the CVE.

prevent

Validates all input to the appliance to reject path traversal sequences, preventing the malicious file injection that leads to RCE.

detect

Performs integrity verification on files and software to detect unauthorized modifications resulting from successful directory traversal.

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-02 partial match
prevents

Patching/maintenance can remediate known path-traversal flaws in deployed software (partial prevention of exploitability) but does nothing to stop the coding defect from being introduced in the first place.

PR.AA-05 none match
prevents

PR.AA-05 defines and reviews access policies but does not address code-level pathname neutralization, so neither direction prevents CWE-22.

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.

detects

Security testing in development catches path traversal via static/dynamic analysis.

prevents

Secure SDLC mandates input validation and path sanitization that directly prevent path traversal.

prevents

Application security requirements include rules for safe file handling and canonicalization.

prevents

Secure architecture principles require least-privilege file access and directory isolation.

prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe path construction and mandate safe APIs.

mitigates

Information access restriction limits which files an application may read or write.

References