CVE-2020-27688: 
Robware RVTools vulnerability analysis and mitigation

RVToolsPasswordEncryption.exe in RVTools 4.0.6 contains a vulnerability in its password encryption functionality used for configuration files. The encryption implementation uses static initialization vector (IV) and key values, which allows attackers to decrypt encrypted passwords by utilizing the Decrypt() method from VISKD.cs in the RVTools.exe executable. The vulnerability was discovered and disclosed in November 2020, affecting RVTools version 4.0.6 and earlier versions (NVD, GitHub Advisory).

The vulnerability stems from the use of hardcoded (static) encryption parameters - specifically the initialization vector (IV) and encryption key - in the RVToolsPasswordEncryption.exe utility. These static cryptographic values can be extracted through reverse engineering techniques, allowing an attacker to decrypt any password that has been encrypted using this tool. Encrypted passwords in the configuration files can be identified by the '_RVTools' prefix. The vulnerability has been assigned a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH) with vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N (NVD).

The successful exploitation of this vulnerability allows attackers to decrypt passwords stored in RVTools configuration files. Since these credentials have access to vSphere instances, compromised passwords could lead to unauthorized access to VMware vSphere environments and their associated resources (NVD).

Users should upgrade to versions newer than RVTools 4.0.6 where this vulnerability has been addressed. Additionally, organizations should review and potentially rotate any passwords that were encrypted using the vulnerable versions of RVTools (RVTools Website).