CVE-2023-20867

VMware Tools: Authentication Bypass

As of , CVE-2023-20867 in VMware Tools is on CISA's list of exploited vulnerabilities: CISA listed it on . Our patch-first group: Patch soon.

Exploited
Yes: CISA listed it on 23 June 2023
US federal deadline
14 July 202321 days after CISA listed it. US federal civilian agencies must fix it by then.
Used in ransomware campaigns
Not known to CISA
EPSS score
0.14Higher than 96% of the CVEs EPSS scores. EPSS estimates the chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days.
EPSS when listed
0.00 on 23 June 2023EPSS on the day CISA listed it.
Public exploit
None foundNeither Metasploit nor Exploit-DB lists one.
Fix
Vendor advice: www.vmware.comLinks below, from CISA's entry.

What CISA says to do

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

CISA's required action

What the flaw is

VMware Tools contains an authentication bypass vulnerability in the vgauth module. A fully compromised ESXi host can force VMware Tools to fail to authenticate host-to-guest operations, impacting the confidentiality and integrity of the guest virtual machine. An attacker must have root access over ESXi to exploit this vulnerability.

CISA's description

A fully compromised ESXi host can force VMware Tools to fail to authenticate host-to-guest operations, impacting the confidentiality and integrity of the guest virtual machine.

The CVE record's description, from vmware

CVE published
13 June 2023
Assigned by
vmware
CVSS
3.9 Low (CVSS 3.1, from the CNA)
CWE-287
Improper Authentication
CISA SSVC, exploitation
active
CISA SSVC, automatable
no
CISA SSVC, technical impact
partial

Timeline

  1. The CVE record was published.
  2. CISA added it to its list of exploited vulnerabilities.
  3. The US federal deadline to fix it.

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