CVE-2026-22721
Published: 25 February 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-22721 is a medium-severity Improper Privilege Management (CWE-269) vulnerability in Vmware Cloud Foundation. Its CVSS base score is 6.2 (Medium).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 9.0th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
Threat & Defense at a Glance
Threat & Defense Details
Likely Mitigating ControlsAI
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.
Policy addresses roles, responsibilities, and privilege management to prevent improper privilege assignments.
Access supervision ensures privileges are assigned and managed without improper escalation or retention.
Assigning group/role memberships and access authorizations (privileges) while reviewing accounts addresses improper privilege management.
Enforces proper privilege management by requiring all decisions through the verified reference monitor.
By mandating division of duties across roles, the control enforces proper privilege management and prevents a single entity from controlling an entire sensitive process.
Implements core proper privilege management by restricting to only required rights.
Policy requires training on privilege management and least privilege, making it harder to exploit improper privilege management weaknesses.
Training covers proper privilege management practices, making incorrect privilege assignments less likely.
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Direct privilege escalation via improper privilege management (CWE-269) in a remotely accessible management component matches Exploitation for Privilege Escalation.
NVD 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…
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'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 .
Deeper analysisAI
VMware Aria Operations contains a privilege escalation vulnerability identified as CVE-2026-22721, classified under CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management). This issue affects the VMware Aria Operations component, allowing unauthorized elevation of access within the platform. The vulnerability has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 6.2 (AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L), indicating medium severity with network accessibility, high attack complexity, and requirements for high privileges.
A malicious actor who already possesses privileges in vCenter sufficient to access Aria Operations can exploit this vulnerability over the network. Successful exploitation enables the attacker to escalate their access and obtain full administrative privileges within VMware Aria Operations, potentially compromising confidentiality, integrity, and limited availability of the affected system without requiring user interaction.
The Broadcom security advisory VMSA-2026-0001 recommends remediation by applying the patches listed in the 'Fixed Version' column of the 'Response Matrix', available at https://support.broadcom.com/web/ecx/support-content-notification/-/external/content/SecurityAdvisories/0/36947. Additional details on fixed versions appear in the VMware Aria Operations 8.18.6 release notes at https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-cis/aria/aria-operations/8-18/vmware-aria-operations-8186-release-notes.html.
Details
- CWE(s)