To infinity…and beyond! VMware vCenter Server updates address sensitive information disclosure vulnerability in the VMware Directory Service – CVE-2020-3952

Preface: VMware announce that the external Platform Services Controller architecture is deprecated and will not be available in future releases.

Background: Authentication and certificate management is handled by the Platform Services Controller.

See attached diagram, the platform services controller original design place in a standalone box. It is advice to put together ( a vCenter Server with an Embedded Platform Services Controller). From cyber security protection prespective, the remedy reduce the attack surface. Before embedded design, there are lot of matters for worries. For instance, TLS. LDAP directory available on port 389. The service still uses port 11711 for backward compatibility with vSphere 5.5 and earlier systems.
In essence, organizations are being asked to add LDAP channel binding and LDAP signing configuration changes to make authentications via LDAP on Active Directory Domain Controllers more secure. Currently, out-of-box LDAP configurations are subject to an elevation-of-privilege vulnerability, which could get exploited via a “man-in-the-middle” attack.

Official announcement – https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2020-0006.html

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