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Vulnerability record · CVE-2022-22972 · published 20 May 2022

CVE-2022-22972: VMware Workspace ONE Access and related products authentication bypass

Vmware · Identity Manager

VMware Workspace ONE Access, Identity Manager, and vRealize Automation contain an authentication bypass affecting local domain users. A remote attacker with network access to the UI can obtain administrative access without authenticating, making this a severe flaw for internet-exposed management interfaces.

9.8 CVSS 3.1 Critical EPSS 56% · top 1.0%
9.8CVSS 3.1 base score, v2 7.5
56%EPSS exploitation probability, 30 days
NoNot in CISA KEV
5Affected product versions listed by NVD
2References
17 Jun 2026Last modified by NVD

Description

VMware Workspace ONE Access, Identity Manager and vRealize Automation contain an authentication bypass vulnerability affecting local domain users. A malicious actor with network access to the UI may be able to obtain administrative access without the need to authenticate.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Automated analysis

Generated by VULONE's analysis model from the NVD record, CISA KEV and EPSS data on 19 September 2026. Confidence: medium.

critical priorityUnauthenticated network-reachable administrative access with CVSS 9.8 and very high EPSS makes this an urgent patch target.

What it is

VMware Workspace ONE Access, Identity Manager, and vRealize Automation contain an authentication bypass affecting local domain users. A remote attacker with network access to the UI can obtain administrative access without authenticating, making this a severe flaw for internet-exposed management interfaces.

Impact

An unauthenticated attacker gains administrative access to the affected product's UI, allowing full control over the platform and its managed identities and resources.

Attack surface

Reachable over the network via the product's web UI (CVSS vector AV:N/PR:N/UI:N), requiring no authentication and no user interaction.

Exploitation

Not listed in CISA KEV and no public exploit references are tagged, but EPSS is 0.563 (99th percentile), indicating high predicted exploitation likelihood.

What to do

  • Apply the vendor patch per VMware advisory VMSA-2022-0014 as the first action.
  • Restrict network access to the affected UI so it is not exposed to untrusted networks.
  • Enable and review authentication and administrative audit logging on affected appliances.
  • Rotate credentials and review accounts for unauthorized administrative changes after exposure.
  • Monitor vendor advisory for updated guidance and affected version details.

Detection

  • Alert on successful administrative logins or admin actions from unexpected source IPs or without a preceding authentication event.
  • Monitor web UI access logs for anomalous requests to authentication endpoints on affected appliances.
  • Correlate new or modified administrative accounts with change management records.
  • Watch for authentication bypass attempts against the UI from external or unusual internal hosts.

This assessment is produced automatically and is not human-reviewed. Verify against the vendor advisory before acting on it.

Affected products

5 vulnerable configurations from NVD's CPE data, grouped by vendor and product.

References

LinkTags
https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2022-0014.html Vendor Advisory
https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2022-0014.html Vendor Advisory

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Same products first, then exploited flaws of the same weakness class.

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Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database (record CVE-2022-22972), CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS (scores of 2026-09-26). This page is refreshed as NVD updates the record.