Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Scheduler for TAS before 1.4.0 could send a privileged UAA client token over a non-TLS MySQL connection. If an attacker intercepted that token, they could gain administrator-level access to the Cloud Controller. This is a high-severity credential exposure issue, not just a data leakage bug.
Executive priority
Treat as high priority for Tanzu environments because token interception could become administrator access to Cloud Controller. Prioritize upgrade and TLS validation over broad emergency response unless local evidence suggests exposure.
Technical view
The issue is CWE-319 cleartext transmission of sensitive information. Scheduler for TAS cached a UAA client token in MySQL and could transmit it without TLS, depending on MySQL configuration. The CVSS 3.0 score is 8.6, with network attack vector, low complexity, no privileges, and no user interaction.
Likely exposure
Organizations running Scheduler for TAS versions before 1.4.0 are the stated exposure group, especially where the backing MySQL connection did not enforce TLS for token caching traffic.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation evidence. Practical risk depends on whether an attacker could observe the affected non-TLS network path and capture the privileged UAA token.
Researcher notes
Evidence is limited to the CVE and VMware Tanzu advisory reference in the bundle. The vulnerable condition is configuration-dependent, tied to MySQL token caching over non-TLS. No public exploit details or active exploitation claims are provided here.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade Scheduler for TAS to version 1.4.0 or later per vendor guidance.
- Verify MySQL connectivity for Scheduler token caching enforces TLS.
- Review vendor guidance before changing UAA clients or token handling.
- Rotate potentially exposed UAA client credentials using supported platform procedures.
- Restrict network access to MySQL and platform management paths.
Validation and detection
- Inventory all Scheduler for TAS deployments and record exact versions.
- Confirm no deployment remains below version 1.4.0.
- Validate MySQL server and client settings require TLS for Scheduler connections.
- Review network segmentation around Scheduler, MySQL, UAA, and Cloud Controller.
- Check historical logs for configuration periods with non-TLS MySQL connectivity.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-319: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCredential and access behavior lookup
The CVE wording references authentication or credential exposure, so valid-account and credential-access review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2020-5426 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 8.6 (3.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:L
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:L3.94.7Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.0 score
8.6HighVector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:L
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://tanzu.vmware.com/security/cve-2020-5426CVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information
Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.