Root escalation via public-pipe authorization bypass
Published Aug 23, 2022 · Updated Aug 3, 2024
Local privilege escalation in VMware Tools 12.0.0, 11.x.y, and 10.x.y allows local users to gain root in a Linux guest. The VGAuth service's Proto_SecurityCheckRequest function accepts non-session Guest Operations requests on its public pipe instead of denying them. Local non-administrative guest access is required, and successful exploitation grants root privileges within the same virtual machine.
Summary
What happened
Local privilege escalation in VMware Tools 12.0.0, 11.x.y, and 10.x.y allows local users to gain root in a Linux guest. The VGAuth service's Proto_SecurityCheckRequest function accepts non-session Guest Operations requests on its public pipe instead of denying them. Local non-administrative guest access is required, and successful exploitation grants root privileges within the same virtual machine.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-31676
- Published
- Aug 23, 2022
- Updated
- Aug 3, 2024
- Vendor
- VMware
- Product
- VMware Tools
- Classifications
- CWE-269, T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 23, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 3, 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.
- Affected versionversion=VMware Tools (12.0.0, 11.x.y and 10.x.y)
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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