How severe is CVE-2022-22960?

CVE-2022-22960 has a CVSS score of 7.8/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which products are affected by CVE-2022-22960?

CVE-2022-22960 affects the following products: vmware cloud foundation, vmware identity manager, vmware vrealize automation, vmware vrealize suite lifecycle manager, vmware workspace one access.

How do I patch CVE-2022-22960?

Apply the vmware cloud foundation security patch or hotfix for CVE-2022-22960 on the affected version, following the vendor advisory for your exact build.

How do I detect CVE-2022-22960 across my infrastructure?

Inventory every vmware cloud foundation deployment and check each version against the affected-products list above.

How do I mitigate CVE-2022-22960 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Close the privilege gap rather than the entry point: audit which accounts, roles and service identities can reach the affected operation, drop the component to the least privilege it actually needs, and review file and directory permissions created by earlier installs — a default left in place is what makes this reachable. Alongside that, restrict the management interface to trusted networks and apply the vendor's recommended configuration mitigations.

Is CVE-2022-22960 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 7 known exploit references for CVE-2022-22960, including 7 in-the-wild exploitations observed on GitHub and other sources. Treat this as actively exploitable and prioritize patching immediately. All exploit code should only be run in an isolated sandbox environment for research or authorized testing — never against production systems without explicit written authorization.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2022-22960?

CVE-2022-22960 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 35.5%, placing it in the 98th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score warrants monitoring and prompt remediation.

Is CVE-2022-22960 in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog?

Yes. CVE-2022-22960 (VMware Multiple Products Privilege Escalation Vulnerability) was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on 2022-04-15. CISA required all US federal civilian agencies to remediate this vulnerability by 2022-05-06. The required action was: Apply updates per vendor instructions. Being listed in the KEV catalog is the strongest possible confirmation of active exploitation — treat this as a critical priority.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2022-22960?

CVE-2022-22960 is classified as CWE-732 (CWE-732). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

Which products and versions are affected by CVE-2022-22960?

CVE-2022-22960 affects vmware cloud foundation; vmware identity manager (4 versions, e.g. 3.3.3, 3.3.4, 3.3.5…); vmware vrealize automation (1 version, e.g. 7.6); vmware vrealize suite lifecycle manager, and 1 more product(s). Check the affected-products list on this page against your deployed version to confirm exposure.

When was CVE-2022-22960 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2022-22960 was published on April 13, 2022 and was last updated on June 17, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

🛡️

CISA KEV · ACTIVELY EXPLOITED

HIGH severity

CVE-2022-22960 — Cloud Foundation

HIGH

CVE-2022-22960 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.8) CWE-732 vulnerability in vmware cloud foundation. It is in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-04-15) — treat it as actively exploited and patch now. A fix is available — see the affected versions and patch details below.

VMware Workspace ONE Access, Identity Manager and vRealize Automation contain a privilege escalation vulnerability due to improper permissions in support scripts. A malicious actor…

Published

Apr 13, 2022

Updated

Jun 17, 2026

Affected

5 products

Patched

See advisory

Exploits

7 known

Exploitation data as of Oct 23, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, CISA KEV, FIRST.org (EPSS)

Exploitation Status

Actively exploited in the wild

Confirmed by CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2022-04-15. Federal agencies were required to remediate by 2022-05-06.
A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.

Exploitation and automatability from CISA (KEV catalog and SSVC triage) for CVE-2022-22960.

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

35.5%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Moderate Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs98th percentile — riskier than 98% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

CVE-2022-22960 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.

Where this sits among everything scored

Of 395,249 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the 10–50% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.

Description

VMware Workspace ONE Access, Identity Manager and vRealize Automation contain a privilege escalation vulnerability due to improper permissions in support scripts. A malicious actor with local access can escalate privileges to 'root'.

Affected Products

5 products · 11 configurations

Application

cloud foundationvmware

≥ 3.0 && < 5.0

range

Application

identity managervmware

4 versions

3.3.33.3.43.3.53.3.6

Application

vrealize automationvmware

1 version

7.6

Application

vrealize suite lifecycle managervmware

≥ 8.0 && < 9.0

range

Application

workspace one accessvmware

4 versions

20.10.0.020.10.0.121.08.0.021.08.0.1

Exploits & PoCs

Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.