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TI-2023-07286 Aliases CVE-2023-20867GHSA-qm59-f7vh-3m2p

VMware Tools Authentication Bypass Vulnerability

Priority HIGH 76Exploited in the wildCWE-287Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Local
Privileges required
High
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
High
Impact type
Security bypass
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
Low · Low · None
Fix status
Fixed

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-287.

Summary

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.

Why it matters now

Exploitation Active In CISA KEV since 2023-06-23CISA due date 2023-07-14
EPSS 0.13638 96th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Fixed VMware Tools (VMware): 12.2.5Red Hat: 7 advisories

SSVC decision points

CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3

Exploitation
Active
Automatable
No
Technical impact
Partial

The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
VMwareVMware Tools—12.2.5Patch availableCNA
  • VMware Tools VendorVMware Affected — Fixed in 12.2.5 Patch available CNA

CPE configurations NVD · 7

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:a:vmware:tools:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*10.3.0 to before 12.2.5VulnerableVMware
cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:10.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*10.0VulnerableDebian
cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*11.0VulnerableDebian
cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:12.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*12.0VulnerableDebian
cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:37:*:*:*:*:*:*:*37VulnerableFedoraproject
cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:38:*:*:*:*:*:*:*38VulnerableFedoraproject
cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:39:*:*:*:*:*:*:*39VulnerableFedoraproject
  • cpe:2.3:a:vmware:tools:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 10.3.0 to before 12.2.5 Vulnerable ·VMware
  • cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:10.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 10.0 Vulnerable ·Debian
  • cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 11.0 Vulnerable ·Debian
  • cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:12.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 12.0 Vulnerable ·Debian
  • cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:37:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 37 Vulnerable ·Fedoraproject
  • cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:38:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 38 Vulnerable ·Fedoraproject
  • cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:39:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 39 Vulnerable ·Fedoraproject

Remediation

  • Fix · CNA VMware Tools (VMware) Fixed in 12.2.5

Red Hat 7 advisories

  • RHSA-2023:3950 Released 2023-06-29 · Red Hat rating Low
    open-vm-tools security update
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v.8.6) open-vm-tools-11.3.5-1.el8_6.2, open-vm-tools-desktop-11.3.5-1.el8_6.2, open-vm-tools-sdmp-11.3.5-1.el8_6.2
  • RHSA-2023:3949 Released 2023-06-29 · Red Hat rating Low
    open-vm-tools security update
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8) open-vm-tools-12.1.5-2.el8_8, open-vm-tools-desktop-12.1.5-2.el8_8, open-vm-tools-salt-minion-12.1.5-2.el8_8 +1
  • RHSA-2023:3944 Released 2023-06-29 · Red Hat rating Low
    open-vm-tools security and bug fix update
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client (v. 7) open-vm-tools-11.0.5-3.el7_9.6, open-vm-tools-desktop-11.0.5-3.el7_9.6
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client Optional (v. 7) open-vm-tools-devel-11.0.5-3.el7_9.6, open-vm-tools-test-11.0.5-3.el7_9.6
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode Optional (v. 7) open-vm-tools-devel-11.0.5-3.el7_9.6, open-vm-tools-test-11.0.5-3.el7_9.6
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7) open-vm-tools-11.0.5-3.el7_9.6, open-vm-tools-desktop-11.0.5-3.el7_9.6
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 7) open-vm-tools-devel-11.0.5-3.el7_9.6, open-vm-tools-test-11.0.5-3.el7_9.6
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7) open-vm-tools-11.0.5-3.el7_9.6, open-vm-tools-desktop-11.0.5-3.el7_9.6
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 7) open-vm-tools-devel-11.0.5-3.el7_9.6, open-vm-tools-test-11.0.5-3.el7_9.6
Show 4 more Red Hat advisories
  • RHSA-2023:3948 Released 2023-06-29 · Red Hat rating Low
    open-vm-tools security update
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) open-vm-tools-12.1.5-1.el9_2.1, open-vm-tools-desktop-12.1.5-1.el9_2.1, open-vm-tools-salt-minion-12.1.5-1.el9_2.1 +2
  • RHSA-2023:3946 Released 2023-06-29 · Red Hat rating Low
    open-vm-tools security update
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream AUS (v.8.4) open-vm-tools-11.2.0-2.el8_4.2, open-vm-tools-desktop-11.2.0-2.el8_4.2, open-vm-tools-sdmp-11.2.0-2.el8_4.2
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream E4S (v.8.4) open-vm-tools-11.2.0-2.el8_4.2, open-vm-tools-desktop-11.2.0-2.el8_4.2, open-vm-tools-sdmp-11.2.0-2.el8_4.2
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream TUS (v.8.4) open-vm-tools-11.2.0-2.el8_4.2, open-vm-tools-desktop-11.2.0-2.el8_4.2, open-vm-tools-sdmp-11.2.0-2.el8_4.2
  • RHSA-2023:3947 Released 2023-06-29 · Red Hat rating Low
    open-vm-tools security update
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v.9.0) open-vm-tools-11.3.5-1.el9_0.2, open-vm-tools-desktop-11.3.5-1.el9_0.2, open-vm-tools-sdmp-11.3.5-1.el9_0.2 +1
  • RHSA-2023:3945 Released 2023-06-29 · Red Hat rating Low
    open-vm-tools security update
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream AUS (v. 8.2) open-vm-tools-11.0.0-4.el8_2.2, open-vm-tools-desktop-11.0.0-4.el8_2.2
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream E4S (v. 8.2) open-vm-tools-11.0.0-4.el8_2.2, open-vm-tools-desktop-11.0.0-4.el8_2.2
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream TUS (v. 8.2) open-vm-tools-11.0.0-4.el8_2.2, open-vm-tools-desktop-11.0.0-4.el8_2.2

Vendor assessments

Red Hat

Red Hat rating: Low. Red Hat's page for this CVE →

ProductStatusPlan or fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8)Fixed RHSA-2023:3949
Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9)Fixed RHSA-2023:3948
Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream AUS (v. 8.2)Fixed RHSA-2023:3945
Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream AUS (v.8.4)Fixed RHSA-2023:3946
Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream E4S (v. 8.2)Fixed RHSA-2023:3945
Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream E4S (v.8.4)Fixed RHSA-2023:3946
Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v.8.6)Fixed RHSA-2023:3950
Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v.9.0)Fixed RHSA-2023:3947
Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream TUS (v. 8.2)Fixed RHSA-2023:3945
Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream TUS (v.8.4)Fixed RHSA-2023:3946
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client (v. 7)Fixed RHSA-2023:3944
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client Optional (v. 7)Fixed RHSA-2023:3944
Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode Optional (v. 7)Fixed RHSA-2023:3944
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7)Fixed RHSA-2023:3944
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 7)Fixed RHSA-2023:3944
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7)Fixed RHSA-2023:3944
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 7)Fixed RHSA-2023:3944

Timeline

  1. 2023-06-23 Added to CISA KEV
  2. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2023-20867
  3. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-qm59-f7vh-3m2p

References

Patch 3

Advisory 3

Other 3

  • TI-2025-27491 VMSA-2025-0015: VMware Aria Operations and VMware Tools updates address multiple… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 7.8
  • TI-2016-04622 Untrusted search path vulnerability in the HGFS (aka Shared Folders) feature in VMware… CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.8
  • TI-2023-07316 Authentication bypass by capture-replay in VMware Tools CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
  • TI-2021-05043 Uncontrolled search path in VMware Tools for Windows, VMware Remote Console for Windows… CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.8
  • TI-2023-16924 Improper signature verification in VMware Tools CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
  • TI-2023-16923 Improper privilege management in VMware Tools CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.8
See all 21 →

Sources

This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences