CVE-2024-37081Public exploit

Root privilege escalation via unsafe sudo environment variables

Published Jun 18, 2024 · Updated Aug 2, 2024

Local privilege escalation in VMware vCenter Server 7.0 and 8.0 allows local users to gain root access through misconfigured sudo rules. Privileged management scripts and commands honor attacker-controlled PYTHONPATH, VMWARE_PYTHON_PATH, or VMWARE_PYTHON_BIN values. A non-administrative appliance account in an affected user or group context can execute supplied code as root; Cloud Foundation 4.x and 5.x inherit exposure through vCenter Server.

CVSS severity7.8
High
EPSS probability4.99%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Local privilege escalation in VMware vCenter Server 7.0 and 8.0 allows local users to gain root access through misconfigured sudo rules. Privileged management scripts and commands honor attacker-controlled PYTHONPATH, VMWARE_PYTHON_PATH, or VMWARE_PYTHON_BIN values. A non-administrative appliance account in an affected user or group context can execute supplied code as root; Cloud Foundation 4.x and 5.x inherit exposure through vCenter Server.

The record

CVE
CVE-2024-37081
Published
Jun 18, 2024
Updated
Aug 2, 2024
Vendor
VMware
Product
VMware vCenter Server
Classifications
CWE-556, T1548.003
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jun 18, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 2, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

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

  1. Affected versionversion=7.0 <7.0u3r
  2. Affected versionversion=7.0 <7.0 U3r
  3. Affected versionversion=8.0 <8.0u2d
  4. Affected versionversion=8.0 <8.0 U2d

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

VMware · VMware vCenter Serverversion=7.0 <7.0u3r; version=7.0 <7.0 U3r; version=8.0 <8.0u2d; version=8.0 <8.0 U2d
VMware · VMware Cloud Foundationversion=4.0 <6.0; version=4.x; version=5.x

Published CVSS scores

7.8VMwareCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/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 exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-556ASP.NET Misconfiguration: Use of Identity Impersonation
T1548.003Sudo and Sudo Caching

Public exploit references

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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