CVE-2020-3941

Local privilege escalation via repair-operation race

Published Jan 15, 2020 · Updated Aug 4, 2024

Race condition in the repair operation of VMware Tools for Windows 10.x allows local users to escalate privileges within a guest VM. The race is tied to standard-user write access on C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware CAF; VMware has not disclosed the raced file operation. A low-privileged user must already have access to the affected Windows guest, and successful exploitation elevates privileges only inside that VM.

CVSS severity7.8
High
EPSS probability0.31%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Race condition in the repair operation of VMware Tools for Windows 10.x allows local users to escalate privileges within a guest VM. The race is tied to standard-user write access on C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware CAF; VMware has not disclosed the raced file operation. A low-privileged user must already have access to the affected Windows guest, and successful exploitation elevates privileges only inside that VM.

The record

CVE
CVE-2020-3941
Published
Jan 15, 2020
Updated
Aug 4, 2024
Vendor
VMware
Product
VMware Tools
Classifications
CWE-362, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jan 15, 2020CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 4, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=VMware Tools for Windows 10.x.y

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

VMware · VMware Toolsversion=VMware Tools for Windows 10.x.y

Published CVSS scores

4.4NIST NVDAV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
7.8VMwareCVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
7.0NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-362Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization ('Race Condition')
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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