# CVE-2019-5523: Auth bypass in VMware vCloud Director for Service Providers (vCD)

> Attackers can hijack remote sessions to impersonate logged-in users in VMware vCloud Director portals, requiring an upgrade to fix.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 1 Apr 2019
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-572p-v7cx-fv5g

## What is CVE-2019-5523?

CVE-2019-5523 is a critical authentication bypass vulnerability in VMware vCloud Director for Service Providers (vCD), published on 1 Apr 2019. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

VMware vCloud Director for Service Providers 9.5.x prior to 9.5.0.3 update resolves a Remote Session Hijack vulnerability in the Tenant and Provider Portals. Successful exploitation of this issue may allow a malicious actor to access the Tenant or Provider Portals by impersonating a currently logged in session.

Weakness: CWE-384 (Session Fixation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-5523?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Vmware Vcloud Director.

## How do I fix CVE-2019-5523?

No fix has been published for CVE-2019-5523 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2019-5523 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-5523 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in VMware vCloud Director for Service Providers (vCD)

- [CVE-2020-3956](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-3956/): Code injection in VMware Cloud Director (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2022-22966](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-22966/): Code injection in VMware Cloud Director (high 7.2)
- [CVE-2014-1211](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-1211/): Cross-site request forgery in n/a (medium 6.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2019-5523 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2019-5523 is a critical authentication bypass vulnerability in VMware vCloud Director for Service Providers (vCD), published on 1 Apr 2019. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-5523 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: VMware vCloud Director for Service Providers (vCD). 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-2019-5523/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-5523/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-5523
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-5523
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2019-5523

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-5523/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.