# CVE-2006-5990: Security feature bypass in n/a

> VMware VirtualCenter client fails to verify server certificates, allowing man-in-the-middle attacks to spoof servers and intercept data.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.0 (`AV:N/AC:H/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:P`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 21 Nov 2006
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-jr99-r38w-q3wj

## What is CVE-2006-5990?

CVE-2006-5990 is a medium-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 21 Nov 2006. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

VMWare VirtualCenter client 2.x before 2.0.1 Patch 1 (Build 33643) and 1.4.x before 1.4.1 Patch 1 (Build 33425), when server certificate verification is enabled, does not verify the server's X.509 certificate when creating an SSL session, which allows remote malicious servers to spoof valid servers via a man-in-the-middle attack.

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2006-5990?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Vmware Virtualcenter.

## How do I fix CVE-2006-5990?

No fix has been published for CVE-2006-5990 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2006-5990 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2006-5990 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2008-3514](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-3514/): Information disclosure in n/a (medium 5.0)
- [CVE-2008-4278](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-4278/): Information disclosure in n/a (low 2.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2006-5990 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2006-5990 is a medium-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 21 Nov 2006. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2006-5990 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: n/a. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2006-5990/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2006-5990/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2006-5990
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2006-5990
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2006-5990

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2006-5990/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.