CVE-2023-20888
Published: 07 June 2023
Summary
CVE-2023-20888 is a high-severity Deserialization of Untrusted Data (CWE-502) vulnerability in Vmware Vrealize Network Insight. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).
Operationally, ranked in the top 0.5% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
Deeper analysis
VMware Aria Operations for Networks contains an authenticated deserialization vulnerability tracked as CVE-2023-20888 and assigned CWE-502. The flaw resides in the handling of serialized data and received a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.8, reflecting network attack vector, low attack complexity, and low privileges required.
An attacker who already possesses network access to an affected deployment together with valid member-role credentials can supply a crafted serialized object. Successful exploitation results in arbitrary deserialization that yields remote code execution on the target system.
The issue is addressed in VMware security advisory VMSA-2023-0012, which customers should consult for official mitigation steps and patch availability.
EPSS values for the CVE stand at a current 0.8859 with a recorded peak of 0.9093, reflecting sustained exploitation interest after public disclosure.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-25059
Vulnerability details
Aria Operations for Networks contains an authenticated deserialization vulnerability. A malicious actor with network access to VMware Aria Operations for Networks and valid 'member' role credentials may be able to perform a deserialization attack resulting in remote code execution.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
No named actor attribution yet. ATT&CK technique mapping in progress for this CVE.
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
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.
Penetration testing supplies malicious serialized objects, detecting unsafe deserialization and supporting corrective actions.
Evaluation of untrusted data handling (deserialization testing) reveals unsafe processing, which the required remediation process addresses.
Untrusted serialized data can be deserialized and observed inside the chamber, blocking gadget-chain exploitation outside the sandbox.
Validates or rejects untrusted serialized data before deserialization occurs.
Identifies and blocks malicious code introduced through deserialization of untrusted data at system boundaries.
Integrity verification of serialized information can detect tampering before deserialization occurs.
Provenance of associated data allows detection of untrusted sources before deserialization or processing occurs.