VMware ESXi and Workstation Vulnerabilities Let Attackers Execute Malicious Code on Host

Multiple severe vulnerabilities have been addressed affecting VMware ESXi, Workstation, Fusion, and Tools that could allow attackers to execute malicious code on host systems. However, on VMware Workstation and Fusion desktop platforms, successful exploitation can lead to complete host system compromise, allowing attackers to break out of the virtual machine environment entirely. Three vulnerabilities allow attackers with VM admin access to execute code on host systems, enabling complete virtual machine breakout on Workstation and Fusion. Deploy immediate updates, including ESXi patches, Workstation Pro 17.6.4, Fusion 13.6.4, and VMware Tools 13.0.1.0 to prevent infrastructure compromise. This vulnerability stems from an integer-underflow condition that leads to out-of-bounds write operations, enabling attackers to execute malicious code within the virtual machine’s VMX process on the host system. The vulnerability impacts VMware ESXi versions 7.0 and 8.0, as well as Workstation Pro 17.x and Fusion 13.x, requiring immediate patching across enterprise environments. It affects VMware ESXi 7.0/8.0, Workstation Pro 17.x, Fusion 13.x, VMware Tools, and enterprise Cloud Foundation/Telco Cloud platforms. The vulnerability specifically affects VMware Tools for Windows across versions 11.x, 12.x, and 13.x, while Linux and macOS implementations remain unaffected.

This Cyber News was published on cybersecuritynews.com. Publication date: Wed, 16 Jul 2025 06:20:14 +0000


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