CVE-2022-22951: VMware Carbon Black App Control RCE Flaw

CVE-2022-22951 Overview

CVE-2022-22951 is an OS command injection vulnerability affecting VMware Carbon Black App Control, a leading application control and allowlisting solution used by enterprises to protect endpoints. The vulnerability allows an authenticated attacker with high privileges and network access to the VMware App Control administration interface to execute arbitrary commands on the server due to improper input validation, leading to remote code execution.

Critical Impact

An authenticated, high-privileged attacker with network access to the VMware App Control administration interface can achieve remote code execution on the server, potentially compromising the entire endpoint security management infrastructure.

Affected Products

• VMware Carbon Black App Control 8.5.x prior to 8.5.14
• VMware Carbon Black App Control 8.6.x prior to 8.6.6
• VMware Carbon Black App Control 8.7.x prior to 8.7.4
• VMware Carbon Black App Control 8.8.x prior to 8.8.2
• Deployments running on Microsoft Windows

Discovery Timeline

• March 23, 2022 - CVE-2022-22951 published to NVD
• November 21, 2024 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2022-22951

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-78 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command), commonly known as OS Command Injection. The flaw resides in the VMware Carbon Black App Control administration interface, where user-supplied input is not properly sanitized before being passed to operating system command execution functions.

The vulnerability requires an authenticated user with high privileges and network access to the administration interface. While the authentication requirement raises the barrier to exploitation, the potential impact is severe. When successfully exploited, an attacker can execute arbitrary commands with the privileges of the Carbon Black App Control server process, which typically runs with elevated system permissions.

The scope of this vulnerability extends beyond the vulnerable component itself, meaning that a successful exploit can affect resources beyond the security scope of the vulnerable component. This makes it particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where the Carbon Black App Control server manages security policies across numerous endpoints.

Root Cause

The root cause of CVE-2022-22951 is improper input validation in the VMware Carbon Black App Control administration interface. User-controlled input is passed to operating system command execution functions without adequate sanitization or parameterization. This allows specially crafted input containing command injection payloads to be interpreted as commands by the underlying operating system shell.

The administration interface fails to implement proper input validation controls such as allowlist-based filtering, input encoding, or parameterized command execution that would prevent malicious command characters from being processed as part of the command string.

Attack Vector

The attack is conducted remotely over the network against the VMware App Control administration interface. An attacker must first obtain valid credentials with high privileges to authenticate to the administration interface. Once authenticated, the attacker can craft malicious input containing OS command injection payloads that will be executed by the server.

The attack flow typically involves:

1. Gaining access to valid administrative credentials through credential theft, phishing, or other means
2. Accessing the Carbon Black App Control administration interface over the network
3. Identifying input fields or API endpoints vulnerable to command injection
4. Crafting payloads that include command separators (such as semicolons, pipes, or ampersands) followed by malicious commands
5. Submitting the crafted input, causing the server to execute the injected commands with elevated privileges

Since no verified code examples are available, the technical details of exploitation patterns can be found in the VMware Security Advisory VMSA-2022-0008.

Detection Methods for CVE-2022-22951

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual process execution or command-line activity originating from the Carbon Black App Control server process
• Unexpected network connections initiated by the Carbon Black App Control server to external addresses
• Suspicious authentication patterns to the administration interface, particularly from unusual source IPs
• Creation of new user accounts or modification of existing privileges on the server
• Anomalous file system activity, including creation of scripts or executables in unexpected directories

Detection Strategies

• Monitor authentication logs for the Carbon Black App Control administration interface for anomalous access patterns or brute force attempts
• Implement network traffic analysis to detect unusual command patterns or payloads in HTTP requests to the administration interface
• Deploy endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions to identify suspicious child processes spawned by the Carbon Black App Control server
• Configure SIEM rules to alert on command injection indicators such as shell metacharacters in web application logs
• Establish baseline behavior for the Carbon Black App Control server and alert on deviations

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable comprehensive logging for the Carbon Black App Control administration interface and forward logs to a centralized SIEM
• Monitor Windows Event Logs for process creation events (Event ID 4688) associated with the Carbon Black App Control service
• Implement file integrity monitoring on the Carbon Black App Control server to detect unauthorized modifications
• Review administrative access logs regularly for unauthorized or suspicious access attempts

How to Mitigate CVE-2022-22951

Immediate Actions Required

• Upgrade VMware Carbon Black App Control to patched versions: 8.5.14, 8.6.6, 8.7.4, or 8.8.2 or later immediately
• Restrict network access to the administration interface using firewall rules and network segmentation
• Audit all administrative accounts and remove unnecessary high-privilege access
• Review logs for any signs of exploitation prior to patching
• Implement multi-factor authentication for administrative access if not already in place

Patch Information

VMware has released security patches addressing CVE-2022-22951. Organizations should upgrade to the following fixed versions based on their current installation:

Detailed patch information and download links are available in the VMware Security Advisory VMSA-2022-0008.

Workarounds

• Limit network access to the Carbon Black App Control administration interface to trusted management networks only
• Implement strict IP allowlisting for administrative access at the network and application levels
• Use a jump server or bastion host for all administrative access to reduce exposure
• Monitor all administrative sessions with session recording capabilities where feasible
• Consider temporarily disabling remote administrative access until patches can be applied, if operationally feasible

# Example: Windows Firewall rule to restrict access to administration interface
# Replace 192.168.1.0/24 with your trusted management network
netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="Block CB App Control Admin" dir=in protocol=tcp localport=443 action=block
netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="Allow CB Admin from Mgmt" dir=in protocol=tcp localport=443 remoteip=192.168.1.0/24 action=allow