On January 31, 2025, VMware disclosed CVE-2025-22222, a credential exposure vulnerability affecting VMware Aria Operations (formerly vRealize Operations Manager).

This vulnerability allows a non-administrative user to retrieve outbound plugin credentials if they possess a valid service credential ID. While VMware has released a patch, organizations delaying remediation may be at risk of data exfiltration, lateral movement, and privilege escalation attacks.

• CVE ID: CVE-2025-22222

• CVSS Score: TBD (Likely High)

• Affected Product: VMware Aria Operations

• Impact: Unauthorized credential access → lateral movement → potential system takeover

• Patch Available: Yes

Background

VMware Aria Operations is a cloud and infrastructure monitoring tool widely used in hybrid and multi-cloud environments. It integrates with various third-party plugins to collect logs, metrics, and other operational data.

To facilitate secure communication with these outbound services, VMware Aria Operations stores credentials internally. However, CVE-2025-22222 introduces a flaw where a low-privileged user can retrieve these credentials—effectively bypassing security boundaries and potentially gaining unauthorized access to sensitive systems.

Impact

An attacker who has access to a non-administrative user account within VMware Aria Operations can:

• Query the system for stored service credential IDs.

• Leverage an API or misconfigured permissions to extract outbound plugin credentials.

• Use those credentials to authenticate against external services (e.g., cloud storage, databases, or logging servers).

• Pivot laterally by leveraging the compromised accounts to move further into the network.

This vulnerability is particularly dangerous in cloud environments where misconfigured IAM roles and weak logging can make it difficult to detect unauthorized credential use.

Attack Chain Example

1. Initial Access: The attacker compromises a non-admin user account via phishing or credential stuffing.

2. Credential Discovery: Using legitimate API calls, they enumerate outbound plugin credentials stored in VMware Aria Operations.

3. Credential Theft: The attacker retrieves service credentials for an external AWS S3 bucket.

4. Data Exfiltration: Using the stolen credentials, they download critical system logs or PII from S3.

5. Pivoting: The attacker uses credentials from the logs to access an internal database running in the cloud environment.

6. Privilege Escalation: With stolen credentials, they attempt further access via weak IAM roles or service misconfigurations.

Mitigation

The most immediate and effective step is to apply the latest security patch provided by VMware, as this directly addresses the credential exposure issue. Organizations should prioritize updating all affected instances of VMware Aria Operations and ensure that no unpatched systems remain exposed. In addition to patching, it is crucial to rotate all potentially compromised outbound plugin credentials to prevent unauthorized access, particularly for integrations with cloud storage, databases, and logging services.

Beyond patching and credential rotation, organizations should conduct a thorough audit of user permissions to enforce least privilege access. Since this vulnerability allows a non-admin user to retrieve sensitive credentials, restricting unnecessary access to API endpoints related to credential storage can significantly reduce risk. Security teams should monitor API activity logs for unusual requests related to credential retrieval and flag any unauthorized access attempts for investigation. Implementing multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all privileged accounts and enforcing short-lived, ephemeral credentials where possible can further strengthen security.

Lastly, organizations should enhance their Zero Trust policies by restricting network access to VMware Aria Operations interfaces using firewall rules, VPNs, or private network configurations. Any outbound connections should be closely monitored, especially for unexpected data transfers to unrecognized locations. By taking these proactive steps, businesses can mitigate the risk posed by CVE-2025-22222 and prevent potential exploitation.

Indicators of Compromise

Security teams should look for the following IoCs to detect potential exploitation:

• Files modified or introduced, such as /home/webserver/htdocs/dana-na/jam/getComponent.cgi and /tmp/svb.

• Unusual network traffic from VPS providers or Tor networks targeting known Host Checker Launcher files.

• HTTP requests in sequential version order indicating pre-exploitation reconnaissance.

• Log anomalies, including cleared kernel messages (dmesg -C) and missing syslog entries.

Other IoCs include:

Suspicious API Calls: Repeated non-admin API requests querying outbound service credentials or unusual traffic patterns to credential management endpoints.

Unexpected Credential Usage: Service credentials being used from new or untrusted locations and failed authentication attempts using compromised credentials.

Data Exfiltration Indicators: Large outbound data transfers from VMware Aria Operations-connected services as well as sudden spikes in S3 access logs, database queries, or log file downloads.

Security teams should correlate these IoCs with network and endpoint telemetry to detect ongoing attacks.

Attribution

At this time, no specific threat actor has been linked to CVE-2025-22222 exploitation. However, there are a number of cloud-focused APT groups:

APT29 (Cozy Bear): Known for targeting cloud platforms for credential theft.

FIN11: Financially motivated group that steals cloud credentials for ransomware operations.

UNC3944 (Scattered Spider): Specializes in compromising cloud environments via IAM abuse.

Given the nature of the vulnerability, we expect both nation-state actors and financially motivated groups to integrate CVE-2025-22222 into their attack playbooks.

Conclusion

CVE-2025-22222 represents a serious risk for any organization using VMware Aria Operations in production. The ability for non-admin users to retrieve service credentials introduces a dangerous escalation path that could lead to cloud account takeovers, lateral movement, and data exfiltration.

By patching immediately, auditing permissions, and monitoring for suspicious credential access, organizations can prevent exploitation and mitigate future risks.

Silent Breach provides specialized services to help organizations identify and address vulnerabilities like CVE-2025-22222. Our penetration testing teams simulate sophisticated attacks to identify weaknesses, while our SOC monitoring solutions enable continuous threat detection and rapid incident response. For organizations navigating compliance requirements, our expertise ensures alignment with standards such as ISO 27001 and SOC 2.

For more information on how your organization may be impacted by CVE-2025-22222 or for additional guidance, please contact Silent Breach at contact@silentbreach.com.

TL;DR for Engineers:

• VMware Aria Operations is leaking service credentials to non-admin users.

• Attackers can use this to steal API keys, pivot, and escalate privileges.

• Patch immediately, restrict RBAC, and monitor credential access.






About Silent Breach: Silent Breach is an award-winning provider of cyber security services. Our global team provides cutting-edge insights and expertise across the Data Center, Enterprise, SME, Retail, Government, Finance, Education, Automotive, Hospitality, Healthcare and IoT industries.