Time-of-check time-of-use race condition in VMware ESXi and VMware Cloud Foundation
Priority LOW 35CWE-367Published · Updated
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- High
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- No fix listed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA.
Summary
VMware ESXi contains a TOCTOU (Time-of-check Time-of-use) vulnerability that exists in the way temporary files are handled. A malicious actor with access to settingsd, may exploit this issue to escalate their privileges by writing arbitrary files.
Why it matters now
EPSS 0.01052 64th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix No fix listed No fixed version in the sources yet
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | VMware ESXi and VMware Cloud Foundation | VMware ESXi(7.0 U3 before ESXi70U3c-19193900, 7.0 U2 before ESXi70U2e-19290878 and 7.0 U1 before ESXi70U1e-19324898) and VMware Cloud Foundation 4.x before 4.4 | — | No fix listed | CNA |
- VMware ESXi and VMware Cloud Foundation Vendor— Affected VMware ESXi(7.0 U3 before ESXi70U3c-19193900, 7.0 U2 before ESXi70U2e-19290878 and 7.0 U1 before ESXi70U1e-19324898) and VMware Cloud Foundation 4.x before 4.4 Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 4
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:vmware:fusion:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | before 4.4 | Vulnerable | VMware |
| cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_1:*:*:*:*:*:* | 7.0 update_1 | Vulnerable | VMware |
| cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_2:*:*:*:*:*:* | 7.0 update_2 | Vulnerable | VMware |
| cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_3:*:*:*:*:*:* | 7.0 update_3 | Vulnerable | VMware |
- cpe:2.3:a:vmware:fusion:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions before 4.4 Vulnerable ·VMware
- cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_1:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.0 update_1 Vulnerable ·VMware
- cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_2:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.0 update_2 Vulnerable ·VMware
- cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_3:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.0 update_3 Vulnerable ·VMware
Remediation
No fixed version listed by the sources yet.
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2021-22043
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-27hx-pvj5-2hqg
References
More VMware Esxi vulnerabilities
- TI-2020-03488 Use after free in VMware ESXi KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2019-03949 Out-of-bounds write in ESXi and Horizon DaaS KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2025-16135 Time-of-check time-of-use race condition in VMware ESXi KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.3
- TI-2025-16136 Out-of-bounds write in VMware ESXi KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.2
- TI-2010-03709 The rds_page_copy_user function in net/rds/page.c in the Reliable Datagram Sockets (RDS)… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 7.8
- TI-2024-24615 Authentication bypass in VMware ESXi KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 7.2
Sources
- CVE-2021-22043 · CVE Program
- CVE-2021-22043 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-27hx-pvj5-2hqg · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
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