● Medium · CVSS 6.2

How to Fix CVE-2026-22721: Privilege escalation in VMware Aria Operations

Q: What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-22721?

6.2 (Medium). Vector: `CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L`.

Q: Where is the official advisory for CVE-2026-22721?

The vendor advisory is at [https://support.broadcom.com/web/ecx/support-content-notification/-/external/content/SecurityAdvisories/0/36947](https://support.broadcom.com/web/ecx/support-content-notification/-/external/content/SecurityAdvisories/0/36947). The NVD record is at https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-22721.

By Sai Kiran Pandrala. Last verified: 2026-05-25.

CVE-2026-22721 is a privilege escalation in VMware VMware Aria Operations. The fix is to upgrade to VMware Aria Operations 8.18.6; VMware Cloud Foundation 5.2.3; VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0.2; VMware Telco Cloud Infrastructure 5.2.3; VMware Telco Cloud Platform 5.2.3.

⚡ At a glance


Severity	6.2 (Medium)
Actively exploited?	No public listing in CISA KEV
Affected	VMware Aria Operations 8.18.0 to <8.18.6; VMware Cloud Foundation 4.0 to <5.2.3; VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 to <9.0.2; VMware Telco Cloud Platform 4.0 to <5.2.3; VMware Telco Cloud Infrastructure 2.0 to <5.2.3
Fixed in	VMware Aria Operations 8.18.6; VMware Cloud Foundation 5.2.3; VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0.2; VMware Telco Cloud Infrastructure 5.2.3; VMware Telco Cloud Platform 5.2.3
Type (CWE)	CWE-269 Improper Privilege Management

What is CVE-2026-22721?

VMware Aria Operations contains a privilege escalation vulnerability. A malicious actor with privileges in vCenter to access Aria Operations may use this vulnerability to obtain administrative access in VMware Aria Operations. To remediate CVE-2026-22721, apply the patches listed in the '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 . The CVSS base score is 6.2 (Medium). The official advisory is at https://support.broadcom.com/web/ecx/support-content-notification/-/external/content/SecurityAdvisories/0/36947.

Am I affected?

Check the version of VMware Aria Operations you are running and compare it against the Affected row above (VMware Aria Operations 8.18.0 to <8.18.6; VMware Cloud Foundation 4.0 to <5.2.3; VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 to <9.0.2; VMware Telco Cloud Platform 4.0 to <5.2.3; VMware Telco Cloud Infrastructure 2.0 to <5.2.3). If your build sits inside the affected range, you must patch.

Run the version check that fits your platform:


# Linux package check
dpkg -s vmware-aria-operations 2>/dev/null | grep -i ^Version
rpm -q vmware-aria-operations 2>/dev/null
command -v vmware-aria-operations >/dev/null && vmware-aria-operations --version 2>/dev/null


# Windows (PowerShell)
Get-Package -Name "*VMware Aria Operations*" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Select-Object Name, Version
winget list --name "VMware Aria Operations" 2>$null

How to fix CVE-2026-22721

Upgrade VMware Aria Operations to a patched build: VMware Aria Operations 8.18.6; VMware Cloud Foundation 5.2.3; VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0.2; VMware Telco Cloud Infrastructure 5.2.3; VMware Telco Cloud Platform 5.2.3. The vendor advisory is the source of truth for the exact fixed version.

Ubuntu / Debian


sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install --only-upgrade vmware-aria-operations
dpkg -s vmware-aria-operations | grep -i ^Version

RHEL / CentOS / Rocky / AlmaLinux


sudo dnf upgrade --refresh vmware-aria-operations -y
# or for older releases:
sudo yum update vmware-aria-operations -y
rpm -q vmware-aria-operations

SUSE / openSUSE


sudo zypper refresh
sudo zypper update vmware-aria-operations
rpm -q vmware-aria-operations

Node.js / npm


# Update the affected package in your project
npm install VMware Aria Operations@latest
npm ls VMware Aria Operations
npm audit fix

Complete PowerShell remediation script (Windows)


# Fix script for CVE-2026-22721 affecting VMware Aria Operations
# Run as administrator. Detect -> backup -> upgrade -> verify -> log.

$ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"
$LogPath  = "C:\Logs\CVE-2026-22721-fix-$(Get-Date -Format yyyyMMdd-HHmmss).log"
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force (Split-Path $LogPath) | Out-Null
Start-Transcript -Path $LogPath -Append

try {
    Write-Host "[1/4] Detect installed version"
    $pkg = Get-Package -Name "*VMware Aria Operations*" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    if ($pkg) { $pkg | Format-Table Name, Version }
    else { Write-Host "Not detected via Get-Package; try winget list" }

    Write-Host "[2/4] Backup configuration"
    $backup = "C:\Backup\vmware-aria-operations-$(Get-Date -Format yyyyMMdd)"
    New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force $backup | Out-Null
    Get-ChildItem "C:\ProgramData\VMware Aria Operations" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue |
        Copy-Item -Destination $backup -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

    Write-Host "[3/4] Apply the upgrade to VMware Aria Operations 8.18.6; VMware Cloud Foundation 5.2.3; VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0.2; VMware Telco Cloud Infrastructure 5.2.3; VMware Telco Cloud Platform 5.2.3"
    winget upgrade --name "VMware Aria Operations" --silent --accept-source-agreements --accept-package-agreements
    if ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) {
        # Fallback: pull latest via OS update channel
        Install-Module -Name PSWindowsUpdate -Force -SkipPublisherCheck -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
        Import-Module PSWindowsUpdate
        Install-WindowsUpdate -MicrosoftUpdate -AcceptAll -IgnoreReboot
    }

    Write-Host "[4/4] Verify the patched build"
    winget list --name "VMware Aria Operations"
    Write-Host "Patch applied. Reboot if prompted."
    exit 0
} catch {
    Write-Error "Patch failed: $_"
    exit 1
} finally {
    Stop-Transcript
}

Complete Bash remediation script (Linux)


#!/usr/bin/env bash
# Fix script for CVE-2026-22721 affecting VMware Aria Operations
# Detect -> backup -> upgrade -> verify -> log.

set -euo pipefail
LOG="/var/log/cve-2026-22721-fix-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S).log"
exec > >(tee -a "$LOG") 2>&1

echo "[1/4] Detect installed version"
if command -v dpkg >/dev/null; then
    dpkg -s vmware-aria-operations 2>/dev/null | grep -i ^Version || echo "vmware-aria-operations not installed via dpkg"
elif command -v rpm >/dev/null; then
    rpm -q vmware-aria-operations || echo "vmware-aria-operations not installed via rpm"
fi

echo "[2/4] Backup configuration"
BACKUP="/root/backup-cve-2026-22721-$(date +%Y%m%d)"
mkdir -p "$BACKUP"
for d in /etc/vmware-aria-operations /etc/vmware-aria-operations.d /etc/vmware-aria-operations.conf; do
    [ -e "$d" ] && cp -a "$d" "$BACKUP/" || true
done

echo "[3/4] Apply the upgrade (target: VMware Aria Operations 8.18.6; VMware Cloud Foundation 5.2.3; VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0.2; VMware Telco Cloud Infrastructure 5.2.3; VMware Telco Cloud Platform 5.2.3)"
if command -v apt-get >/dev/null; then
    apt-get update
    apt-get install --only-upgrade -y vmware-aria-operations
elif command -v dnf >/dev/null; then
    dnf upgrade --refresh -y vmware-aria-operations
elif command -v yum >/dev/null; then
    yum update -y vmware-aria-operations
elif command -v zypper >/dev/null; then
    zypper --non-interactive update vmware-aria-operations
fi

echo "[4/4] Verify the patched build"
if command -v dpkg >/dev/null; then
    dpkg -s vmware-aria-operations 2>/dev/null | grep -i ^Version
elif command -v rpm >/dev/null; then
    rpm -q vmware-aria-operations
fi
echo "Done. Restart any service that loaded the old library."

If you can't patch immediately

Apply at least one of the following inline controls until you can deploy the patched build. None replace the upgrade.

Restrict exposure with nftables (Linux)


# Allow only trusted CIDR to reach the affected service ports
sudo nft add table inet filter 2>/dev/null || true
sudo nft 'add chain inet filter input { type filter hook input priority 0 ; }' 2>/dev/null || true
sudo nft 'add rule inet filter input tcp dport {80, 443} ip saddr != 10.0.0.0/8 drop'
sudo nft list ruleset

Block at the host firewall (Windows)


New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Block-CVE-2026-22721" -Direction Inbound -Action Block -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 80,443 -RemoteAddress Any -Enabled True
Get-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Block-CVE-2026-22721"

Disable the affected service (Linux)


sudo systemctl stop vmware-aria-operations 2>/dev/null || true
sudo systemctl disable vmware-aria-operations 2>/dev/null || true

If the vendor advisory lists an official workaround, prefer that wording verbatim. If no workaround is published, the only safe remediation is the patch.

How to verify the fix worked

After upgrading, confirm the installed version matches the patched build and that no old library is still loaded by a long-running process.


# Linux
dpkg -s vmware-aria-operations 2>/dev/null | grep -i ^Version
rpm -q vmware-aria-operations 2>/dev/null || true
# Pid map check for old library handles
sudo lsof +c0 2>/dev/null | grep -i "DEL.*lib" || true


# Windows
Get-Package -Name "*VMware Aria Operations*" | Select-Object Name, Version
Get-HotFix | Sort-Object InstalledOn -Descending | Select-Object -First 5

Expected: the reported version is at or above VMware Aria Operations 8.18.6; VMware Cloud Foundation 5.2.3; VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0.2; VMware Telco Cloud Infrastructure 5.2.3; VMware Telco Cloud Platform 5.2.3. Restart the affected service (systemctl restart <service> on Linux, or restart the Windows service) so it loads the patched binary.

Frequently asked questions

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

How to Fix CVE-2026-22745: Spring Framework (Bundle Sibling) — Spring Framework (Bundle Sibling)
How to Fix CVE-2026-22722: Null pointer dereference in Workstation — Null pointer dereference in Workstation
How to Fix CVE-2026-2818: Path Traversal in Spring Data Geode , Path Traversal in Spring Data Geode
How to Fix CVE-2026-22729: Security Vulnerability in Spring AI , Security Vulnerability in Spring AI
How to Fix CVE-2026-41713: Server-Side Template Injection in Spring AI , Server-Side Template Injection in Spring AI

Is CVE-2026-22721 actively exploited?

There is no public confirmation of exploitation in the wild listed in CISA KEV at the time of this writing. Patch anyway. Public exploits commonly follow disclosure within weeks.

Do I need to reboot after patching CVE-2026-22721?

For kernel and OS-level updates, yes. For most userland packages a systemctl restart <service> is enough on Linux, and restarting the Windows service or app on Windows. Any process that loaded the old library keeps using it until restarted.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-22721?

6.2 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L.

Where is the official advisory for CVE-2026-22721?

The vendor advisory is at https://support.broadcom.com/web/ecx/support-content-notification/-/external/content/SecurityAdvisories/0/36947. The NVD record is at https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-22721.

References

Official vendor advisory: https://support.broadcom.com/web/ecx/support-content-notification/-/external/content/SecurityAdvisories/0/36947
NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-22721
CISA KEV catalog: https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog
Additional reference: https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-cis/aria/aria-operations/8-18/vmware-aria-operations-8186-release-notes.html

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