CVE-2020-3972

Guest VM denial of service via HGFS

Published Jun 19, 2020 · Updated Aug 4, 2024

Denial of service in VMware Tools for macOS before 11.1.1 allows local users to interrupt their own guest virtual machine. VMware identifies the Host-Guest File System implementation as the affected locus but has not published the faulty operation that processes shared-folder data. Exploitation requires non-admin guest access, macOS on both host and guest, and an explicitly configured shared folder containing a file; folders are not shared by default.

CVSS severity3.3
Low
EPSS probability0.40%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Denial of service in VMware Tools for macOS before 11.1.1 allows local users to interrupt their own guest virtual machine. VMware identifies the Host-Guest File System implementation as the affected locus but has not published the faulty operation that processes shared-folder data. Exploitation requires non-admin guest access, macOS on both host and guest, and an explicitly configured shared folder containing a file; folders are not shared by default.

The record

CVE
CVE-2020-3972
Published
Jun 19, 2020
Updated
Aug 4, 2024
Vendor
VMware
Product
VMware Tools
Classifications
T1499
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jun 19, 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 macOS (11.x.x and prior before 11.1.1)

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

VMware · VMware Toolsversion=VMware Tools for macOS (11.x.x and prior before 11.1.1)

Published CVSS scores

3.3VMwareCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

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 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1499Endpoint Denial of Service

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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