CVEs / CVE-2023-20867
CVE-2023-20867: VMware Tools Authentication Bypass Vulnerability
- Known exploited in the CISA KEV catalog since 23 Jun 2023
- low 3.9 CVSS 3.1 (NVD)
- EPSS 13.6% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 96% of CVEs (30 Oct 2026)
- Last changed at its sources
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Summary
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.
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.
Affected and fixed versions
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| vmware tools | from 10.3.0, before 12.2.5 | 12.2.5 |
| debian debian linux | 10.0 | — |
| debian debian linux | 11.0 | — |
| debian debian linux | 12.0 | — |
| fedoraproject fedora | 37 | — |
| fedoraproject fedora | 38 | — |
| fedoraproject fedora | 39 | — |
Exploitation
| In CISA KEV since | 23 Jun 2023 |
|---|---|
| Due date for US federal agencies | 14 Jul 2023 |
| Used in ransomware campaigns | Unknown |
| Required action | Apply updates per vendor instructions. |
Severity
| CVSS 3.1 | 3.9 lowCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:NScored by NVD |
|---|---|
| Weakness | CWE-287 |
References
- CVE-2023-20867 on NVD
- CVE-2023-20867 in the CISA KEV catalog
- https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2023-0013.html (cited by CISA)
- CVE-2023-20867 on OSV
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/10/16/11 Mailing List, Patch
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/10/16/2 Mailing List, Patch
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/08/msg00020.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/NVKQ6Y2JFJRWPFOZUOTFO3H27BK5GGOG/ Mailing List, Release Notes
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/TJNJMD67QIT6LXLKWSHFM47DCLRSMT6W/ Mailing List, Release Notes
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/ZJM6HDRQYS74JA7YNKQBFH2XSZ52HEWH/ Mailing List, Release Notes
- https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20230725-0001/ Third Party Advisory
- https://www.debian.org/security/2023/dsa-5493 Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2023-0013.html Patch, Vendor Advisory
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2023-20867 US Government Resource
Sources
Exploitation status from the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. EPSS scores from FIRST. Descriptions, severity and references from the National Vulnerability Database. Open-source package versions from OSV (CC-BY 4.0). Text is shown as each source states it; Stackurity does not edit it. Check the vendor's advisory before acting.
This product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.