⚠ Reference material — not professional advice. Test in staging, back up first, verify against your specific version. Use your own judgment for your environment.
● High · CVSS 8.1 ⚠ ACTIVELY EXPLOITED — CISA KEV

How to Fix CVE-2026-22719: Command Injection in VMware Aria Operations

By Sai Kiran Pandrala

⚡ At a glance
SeverityCVSS 8.1 - High
Actively exploited?Yes, listed in CISA KEV (added 2026-03-03)
AffectedVMware Aria Operations 8.18.x up to (excluding) 8.18.6; VMware Cloud Foundation Operations 9.0 up to (excluding) 9.0.2; VMware Cloud Foundation Operations 4.0 up to (excluding) 5.2.3; Telco Cloud Platform 2.0 up to (excluding) 5.2.3; see advisory for full list
Fixed in5.2.3, 8.18.6, 9.0.2
Type (CWE)Not verified - see official advisory

Patch immediately. CISA added CVE-2026-22719 to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2026-03-03. Federal civilian agencies must remediate by 2026-03-24. Treat every internet-reachable instance as a priority patch.

What is CVE-2026-22719?

CVE-2026-22719 is a Command Injection flaw in VMware Aria Operations. It carries a CVSS base score of 8.1 (high). CISA confirmed real-world exploitation by adding it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2026-03-03.

From the source record: VMware Aria Operations contains a command injection vulnerability. A malicious unauthenticated actor may exploit this issue to execute arbitrary commands which may lead to remote code execution in VMware Aria Operations while support-assisted product migration is in progress. 

To remediate CVE-2026-22719, apply the patches listed in the 'Fixed Version' column of the ' Response Matrix https://support.broadcom.com/web/ecx/support-content-notification/-/external/content/SecurityAdvisories/0/36947 ' in VMSA-2026-0001 

Workarounds for CVE-2026-22719 are documented in the 'Workarounds' column of...

Why it matters in practice: KEV-listed CVEs draw continuous internet-wide scanning. Any unpatched, internet-reachable installation is on borrowed time. The blast radius depends on how the affected service is exposed. An internet-facing instance with no compensating controls is the highest-risk configuration.

Am I affected?

You are affected if your installation of VMware Aria Operations matches a version listed in the Affected row above.

Get the installed VMware build:


# ESXi
vmware -vl
esxcli system version get

How to fix CVE-2026-22719

Apply the vendor patch. Target a build at or above: 5.2.3, 8.18.6, 9.0.2. The runnable command set below covers the most common deployment patterns for VMware Aria Operations.

VMware ESXi / vCenter


# Vendor advisory: https://support.broadcom.com/web/ecx/support-content-notification/-/external/content/SecurityAdvisories/0/36947
# ESXi - via esxcli (host in maintenance mode)
esxcli system maintenanceMode set --enable true
esxcli software profile update -d /vmfs/volumes/datastore1/ESXi-<patched>.zip -p <profile>
reboot
esxcli system version get

# vCenter Server Appliance
software-packages install --url <patch-iso-url>
software-packages list --installed | head

After applying the patch

  1. Restart the service or device so the patched binary loads.
  2. Confirm the running version matches the Fixed in row using the verification command below.
  3. Rotate credentials and API keys that the affected service could access if the asset was exposed during the disclosure window.

If you can't patch immediately

Until the patch lands, narrow the attack surface with these runnable controls.

Reduce the attack surface

Restrict network reach to the affected service to the smallest set of hosts that must access it. On Linux:


# Vendor advisory: https://support.broadcom.com/web/ecx/support-content-notification/-/external/content/SecurityAdvisories/0/36947
sudo iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport <service-port> -s 10.10.10.0/24 -j ACCEPT
sudo iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport <service-port> -j DROP

On Windows:


# Vendor advisory: https://support.broadcom.com/web/ecx/support-content-notification/-/external/content/SecurityAdvisories/0/36947
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Block CVE-2026-22719 inbound" -Direction Inbound -Action Block -Protocol TCP -LocalPort <service-port>

Mitigations are temporary. Apply the vendor patch as soon as a maintenance window opens.

How to verify the fix worked

Confirm the patched build is the one actually running.


esxcli system version get        # ESXi
vpxd -v                          # vCenter

Expected: the version matches 5.2.3, 8.18.6, 9.0.2 or higher.

Also worth doing: pull recent log windows for any indicators of compromise listed in the vendor advisory, and re-run an authenticated vulnerability scan with up-to-date signatures.

Frequently asked questions

Other vulnerabilities in the same area that are worth patching alongside this one:

Is CVE-2026-22719 being exploited in the wild?

Yes. CISA added CVE-2026-22719 to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2026-03-03. KEV listing means at least one confirmed real-world exploitation report exists.

Do I have to take downtime to patch?

For most VMware Aria Operations deployments, the patched build needs a service restart or device reboot. HA pairs and clusters can roll the upgrade by patching the standby first, failing over, then patching the former primary.

Will a WAF or IDS rule alone close CVE-2026-22719?

No. Network filters cut down opportunistic scans but they do not remove the flaw. The vendor patch is the only durable fix.

How quickly should I act on CVE-2026-22719?

Within the standard patch cycle if the asset is internal-only. Inside one to two weeks for any internet-facing instance, sooner if compensating controls are not in place.

References

*Assembled from the official vendor advisory, the NVD record, and the CISA KEV listing on 2026-05-25. Always confirm against the vendor advisory before applying changes in production.*