CVE-2022-31659: VMware Identity Manager RCE Vulnerability

CVE-2022-31659 Overview

CVE-2022-31659 is a remote code execution vulnerability affecting VMware Workspace ONE Access and Identity Manager products. The vulnerability stems from an SQL Injection weakness (CWE-89) that allows a malicious actor with administrator privileges and network access to trigger remote code execution on affected systems. This vulnerability impacts critical identity and access management infrastructure used by organizations to manage authentication and authorization across enterprise applications.

Critical Impact

Attackers with administrative access can achieve remote code execution through SQL injection, potentially leading to complete system compromise of identity management infrastructure.

Affected Products

• VMware Workspace ONE Access (versions 21.08.0.0, 21.08.0.1)
• VMware Identity Manager (versions 3.3.4, 3.3.5, 3.3.6)
• VMware Access Connector (versions 22.05, 22.08.0.0, 22.08.0.1)
• VMware Identity Manager Connector (versions 3.3.4, 3.3.5, 3.3.6, 19.03.0.1)
• Systems running on Linux kernel and Microsoft Windows

Discovery Timeline

• August 5, 2022 - CVE-2022-31659 published to NVD
• November 21, 2024 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2022-31659

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability represents a SQL Injection flaw in VMware Workspace ONE Access and Identity Manager that can be leveraged for remote code execution. The attack requires authenticated administrator access combined with network connectivity to the vulnerable application. Once these prerequisites are met, an attacker can inject malicious SQL statements that escape the intended query context, ultimately enabling arbitrary code execution on the underlying system.

The impact of successful exploitation is severe, affecting the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the target system. Given that VMware Workspace ONE Access and Identity Manager serve as centralized identity providers for enterprise environments, compromise of these systems could provide attackers with access to credentials and authentication tokens across the entire organization.

Root Cause

The root cause of CVE-2022-31659 is improper input sanitization leading to SQL Injection (CWE-89). The affected components fail to adequately validate or sanitize user-supplied input before incorporating it into SQL queries. This allows specially crafted input to modify the structure of SQL statements, enabling attackers to execute arbitrary SQL commands. The SQL injection vulnerability is then chained to achieve remote code execution through database-level command execution capabilities or other exploitation techniques.

Attack Vector

The attack vector for this vulnerability requires network access to the VMware Workspace ONE Access or Identity Manager administrative interface. The attacker must possess valid administrator credentials to authenticate to the vulnerable application. Once authenticated, the attacker can craft malicious requests containing SQL injection payloads that exploit the improper input validation in the application.

The exploitation flow involves:

1. Authenticating to the administrative interface with valid administrator credentials
2. Identifying injection points in application functionality that process user input
3. Crafting SQL injection payloads designed to escape query context
4. Leveraging database features or application behavior to escalate from SQL injection to remote code execution

Since no verified proof-of-concept code is publicly available, organizations should consult the VMware Security Advisory VMSA-2022-0021 for detailed technical information about the vulnerability.

Detection Methods for CVE-2022-31659

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual SQL error messages or database exceptions in application logs
• Unexpected administrative session activity or login patterns
• Database queries containing injection signatures such as UNION SELECT, xp_cmdshell, or stacked queries
• Evidence of command execution originating from database service accounts

Detection Strategies

• Monitor authentication logs for administrative accounts accessing VMware Workspace ONE Access and Identity Manager
• Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block SQL injection attempts
• Deploy database activity monitoring to identify anomalous query patterns
• Enable verbose logging on affected components and forward to SIEM for correlation
• Use SentinelOne's behavioral AI to detect post-exploitation activities following successful RCE

Monitoring Recommendations

• Configure alerts for failed and successful administrator authentication events
• Monitor for unusual outbound network connections from application servers
• Track process creation events on systems hosting affected VMware products
• Review database audit logs for queries that deviate from normal application patterns

How to Mitigate CVE-2022-31659

Immediate Actions Required

• Apply the security patches provided by VMware immediately to all affected products
• Audit administrative accounts and enforce strong, unique credentials
• Implement network segmentation to restrict access to administrative interfaces
• Review administrator activity logs for signs of exploitation

Patch Information

VMware has released security patches addressing CVE-2022-31659 as part of VMSA-2022-0021. Organizations should upgrade to the latest patched versions of VMware Workspace ONE Access, Identity Manager, and associated connector components. The vendor advisory provides detailed instructions for applying updates to each affected product variant.

Workarounds

• Restrict network access to administrative interfaces using firewall rules or network segmentation
• Implement IP allowlisting to limit administrative access to trusted networks only
• Enable multi-factor authentication for all administrator accounts
• Monitor and audit all administrative activities until patches can be applied
• Consider temporarily disabling vulnerable functionality if operationally feasible

# Example: Restrict administrative interface access using iptables
# Allow only trusted admin networks to access VMware identity services
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 443 -s 10.0.1.0/24 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 443 -j DROP

# Verify current firewall rules
iptables -L -n -v