Published on 2024-10-10 12:00 by EL BOUCHTILI Imaddine

VMware NSX Vulnerabilities

Introduction

VMware NSX is a virtualized networking platform used to manage and secure networks within a virtual machine environment. Recently, several critical vulnerabilities have been discovered, exposing systems to various forms of attack.

Vulnerabilities

There are three major vulnerabilities that have been discovered in VMware NSX :

1. Command Injection

VMware NSX contains a vulnerability that allows malicious users to execute arbitrary code by injecting commands. For example, consider the following vulnerable code :

#!/bin/bash
echo "Please enter the name of the network interface:"
read interface_name
ip addr show $interface_name

An attacker could exploit this by injecting a command such as:

eth0; rm -rf / --no-preserve-root

This would result in the execution of :

ip addr show eth0; rm -rf / --no-preserve-root

which deletes critical system files, causing severe damage.

2. Local Privilege Escalation

Another vulnerability allows users to escalate their privileges and gain unauthorized access to administrative functions. Consider this example code :

user_role=$(get_role_from_database $username)

if [ "$user_role" = "Admin" ]; then
  echo "You are an Admin. Full access granted."
else
  echo "You are a regular user. Limited access."
fi

An attacker could manipulate the user_role variable by injecting malicious input, tricking the system into granting them admin privileges.

3. Content Spoofing

This vulnerability allows an attacker to craft a URL that redirects users to a malicious website. For example, consider the following URL used in a VMware native app to redirect users:

https://nsx-vmware.com/redirect?url=https://secure-vmware.com/dashboard

An attacker could modify this URL to redirect users to a phishing site :

https://nsx-vmware.com/redirect?url=https://attacker-site.com/phishing

By exploiting this vulnerability, attackers can trick users into visiting harmful websites.

Source : Cyber Security News - VMware NSX Hacks

Written by EL BOUCHTILI Imaddine