Detect Omnissa Workspace ONE UEM Server-Side Request Forgery (CVE-2021-22054) in Elastic Security
Detects exploitation of CVE-2021-22054, a Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) vulnerability in Omnissa (formerly VMware) Workspace ONE UEM. An unauthenticated attacker can send crafted HTTP requests to the UEM server, causing it to make arbitrary outbound HTTP/HTTPS requests to internal or external resources. This can be leveraged to scan internal networks, access cloud metadata services (e.g., AWS IMDS), or pivot to internal services not directly reachable by the attacker. The vulnerability is listed in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
MITRE ATT&CK
Elastic Detection Query
sequence by host.name with maxspan=5m
[network where process.name like~ "*airwatch*" or process.name like~ "*AwApi*" or process.name like~ "*UEM*"
and (destination.ip == "169.254.169.254" or destination.ip == "127.0.0.1" or destination.ip == "::1"
or destination.domain like "*metadata*" or destination.domain like "*localhost*")]
[network where source.port in (80, 443, 8080, 8443)
and (destination.ip == "169.254.169.254" or destination.ip == "127.0.0.1"
or cidrmatch(destination.ip, "192.168.0.0/16", "10.0.0.0/8", "172.16.0.0/12"))
and not destination.ip == source.ip]EQL sequence detecting Workspace ONE UEM processes making outbound connections to cloud metadata endpoints or internal RFC1918 addresses, which is characteristic of SSRF exploitation.
Data Sources
Required Tables
False Positives & Tuning
- Legitimate UEM health monitoring probes to internal management endpoints
- Authorized network scanning tools running on the same host as UEM
- Cloud-hosted UEM instances performing IMDS queries for instance metadata via approved channels
- Split-tunnel VPN configurations causing internal IPs to appear as external destinations
Other platforms for CVE-2021-22054
Testing Methodology
Validate this detection against 4 adversary techniques from Atomic Red Team. Each test below lists the behaviour to exercise and the telemetry you should expect to see. Executable commands and cleanup steps are available with Pro.
- Test 1SSRF via Workspace ONE UEM Unauthenticated Endpoint to IMDS
Expected signal: IIS access log entry for /DeviceManagement/enrollment with url= parameter containing 169.254.169.254; outbound network connection from UEM server to 169.254.169.254:80
- Test 2SSRF Internal Network Port Scan via Workspace ONE UEM
Expected signal: Multiple IIS log entries within seconds for /AirWatch/ paths with url= parameters containing RFC1918 addresses on varying ports; timing differences in responses reveal open vs closed ports
- Test 3SSRF to Internal Administrative Interface via Redirect Parameter
Expected signal: IIS log entry with redirect= parameter pointing to internal host; potential Windows Defender firewall log showing outbound connection from UEM process to internal admin host; Sysmon Event ID 3 network connection from IIS worker process (w3wp.exe) to internal IP
- Test 4SSRF File URI Scheme Attempt for Local File Read
Expected signal: IIS log entry with file:// URI in URL parameter; absence of outbound network connection (file read is local); potential application error log entries if file:// is rejected by URL validation
Unlock Pro Content
Get the full detection package for CVE-2021-22054 including response playbook, investigation guide, and atomic red team tests.