CVE-2023-34046

Root escalation via installation TOCTOU race

Published Oct 20, 2023 · Updated Mar 7, 2025

TOCTOU in VMware Fusion 13.x before 13.5 allows local users to gain root privileges during first installation or an upgrade. VMware has not disclosed the affected installer locus or the filesystem object changed between its security check and privileged use. Exploitation requires a local non-administrative account and user interaction while the application is dragged or copied from its disk image, or while an upgrade runs; normal first-run launch by double-click does not expose the condition.

CVSS severity6.7
Medium
EPSS probability0.13%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

TOCTOU in VMware Fusion 13.x before 13.5 allows local users to gain root privileges during first installation or an upgrade. VMware has not disclosed the affected installer locus or the filesystem object changed between its security check and privileged use. Exploitation requires a local non-administrative account and user interaction while the application is dragged or copied from its disk image, or while an upgrade runs; normal first-run launch by double-click does not expose the condition.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-34046
Published
Oct 20, 2023
Updated
Mar 7, 2025
Vendor
VMware
Product
VMware Fusion
Classifications
CWE-367, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Oct 20, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Mar 7, 2025Record 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=13.x <13.5

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

VMware · VMware Fusionversion=13.x <13.5

Published CVSS scores

6.7VMwareCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/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-367Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) 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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