CVE-2021-21986: exploitation status and patch state

CVE-2021-21986 · CVSS 9.8 CRITICAL · EPSS 13%

The vSphere Client (HTML5) contains a vulnerability in a vSphere authentication mechanism for the Virtual SAN Health Check, Site Recovery, vSphere Lifecycle Manager, and VMware Cloud Director Availability plug-ins. A malicious actor with network access to port 443 on vCenter Server may perform actions allowed by the impacted plug-ins without authentication.

Is CVE-2021-21986 exploited?

• Not in the CISA KEV catalog.
• EPSS puts exploitation in the next 30 days at 13%.
• Public exploit code: none found in monitored sources.

Which products and versions are affected?

No affected package list recorded here yet.

Is there a patch?

No patch identifier recorded here yet.

What PlainSec published about CVE-2021-21986

• Node Kernel Bugs on GKE COS Nodes Enable Host Escalation (2026-04-15)
• Google Cloud Issues Multiple Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation Fixes for GKE Nodes (2026-04-07)
• Multiple Linux Kernel Flaws Elevate Privileges on GCP Container Nodes (2026-04-03)
• Multiple High-Severity Cloud Vulnerabilities Impact Container Nodes (2026-04-01)

Primary sources

• NVD record

What this record does not say

• No affected package data.
• No patch identifier.

KEV and EPSS are re-checked daily. Record last updated 2026-08-15.