CVE-2025-41244 — Broadcom VMware Aria Operations and VMware Tools Privilege Defined with Unsafe Actions Vulnerability
VMware Aria Operations and VMware Tools contain a local privilege escalation vulnerability. A malicious local actor with non-administrative privileges having access to a VM with VMware Tools installed and managed by Aria Operations with SDMP enabled may exploit this vulnerability to escalate privileges to root on the same VM.
Who exploits it and how urgent it is
A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.
How the score was calculated
- Confirmed exploitation (CISA KEV)+35
- Public exploit/PoC (github)+6
- EPSS 8.4% (30-day exploitation probability)+14
- Technical severity (high)+6
The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).
Triage
Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.
CISA SSVC assessment CISA
Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses (SSVC 2.0.3). A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.
Remediation
Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.
No fix documented by the sources we poll. That does not mean none exists: check the vendor advisory.
CISA required action CISA
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
US federal deadline: Nov 20, 2025 — passed 329 day(s) ago
First 24 hours
Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.
- Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Debian Debian Linux, Vmware Aria Operations, Vmware Cloud Foundation…).
- Treat as emergency remediation: the CVE is in CISA KEV (confirmed exploitation).
- No fix documented in the sources: reduce exposure and monitor the vendor advisory.
- EPSS ahead of 95% of scored CVEs: prioritize it in the patch queue.
- Search available logs for exploit probes, errors and authentication anomalies.
Affected scope
Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.
| Vendor | Product | Versions | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Debian | Debian Linux | version 11.0 | Vulnerable | NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| Vmware | Aria Operations | ≥ 8.18.x and < 8.18.5 | Vulnerable | CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP |
| Vmware | Aria Operations | ≥ 8.0 and < 8.18.5 | Vulnerable | NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| Vmware | Cloud Foundation | ≥ 4.0 and ≤ 5.2.2 | Vulnerable | NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| Vmware | Cloud Foundation | ≥ 4.x and < 8.18.5≥ 5.x and < 8.18.5 | Vulnerable | CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP |
| Vmware | Open Vm Tools | ≥ 11.2.0 and < 12.5.4version 13.0.0 | Vulnerable | NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| Vmware | Telco Cloud Infrastructure | ≥ 2.2 and ≤ 3.0 | Vulnerable | NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| Vmware | Telco Cloud Infrastructure | ≥ 3.x and < 8.18.5≥ 2.x and < 8.18.5 | Vulnerable | CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP |
| Vmware | Telco Cloud Platform | ≥ 4.0 and < 5.0.1 | Vulnerable | NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| Vmware | Telco Cloud Platform | ≥ 5.x and < 8.18.5≥ 4.x and < 8.18.5 | Vulnerable | CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP |
| Vmware | Tools | ≥ 12.5.0 and < 12.5.4≥ 13.0.0.0 and < 13.0.5.0 | Vulnerable | NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| Vmware | Tools | ≥ 13.x.x.x and < 13.0.5.0≥ 12.5.x and < 12.5.4 | Vulnerable | CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP |
| Vmware | VCF operations | ≥ 9.0.x and < 9.0.1.0 | Vulnerable | CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP |
| Vmware | VMware Cloud Foundation Operations | version 9.0 | Vulnerable | NIST National Vulnerability Database |
Attack characteristics
The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.
Every base score collected
Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.
| Score | Version | Severity | Expl. | Impact | Scored by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.8 | CVSS 3.1 | High | 1.8 | 5.9 | security@vmware.com via NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| 7.8 | CVSS 3.1 | High | — | — | GitHub, Inc. via GitHub Security Advisories |
| 7.8 | CVSS 3.1 | High | — | — | vmware via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP |
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H (score shown at the top: security@vmware.com) Weakness MITRE
Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.
CISA KEV details CISA
CISA lists a CVE once it has evidence of exploitation against real targets.
CISA records ransomware use only for campaigns it has confirmed, so “Unknown” means unrecorded, not ruled out. The deadline binds US federal agencies; for everyone else it is a reference date.
Public exploits, PoCs and detection templates
Public code that demonstrates or tests the flaw raises the odds of mass exploitation — and Nuclei templates help find vulnerable assets in your environment.
Warning: public PoCs are sometimes disguised malware. Use them only for authorized testing in an isolated environment. This portal does not host exploit code — it only points to the sources.
EPSS over time FIRST
Oct 12, 2026 → Oct 14, 2026 · 3 reading(s) · max 8.44%
Detection
Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.
- Local/physical vector: focus on endpoint telemetry (EDR) from affected hosts.
- Hunt retroactively in logs from before Oct 30, 2025 (KEV listing): exploitation may have started earlier.
Timeline
What happened to this CVE, newest first.
- 2026
- Affected products added · vmware/vcf operations, vmware/vmware tools, vmware/vmware aria operations, vmware/vmware cloud foundation, vmware/vmware
- SSVC assessment updated
- Record published
- Affected products added · vmware/aria operations, vmware/cloud foundation, vmware/cloud foundation operations, vmware/open vm tools, vmware/telco
- CVSS changed · 7.8
- Source status changed · → Analyzed
- Added to CISA KEV (detected)
- Record created in this database
- 2025
- Added to CISA KEV catalog
- CVE published
Source activity
Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.
- 2× References added · Oct 13, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026
- 1× Official description updated · Oct 13, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026
References
9 on the record
- support.broadcom.com/web/ecx/support-content-notification/-/external/content/SecurityAdvis
- www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog
- support.broadcom.com/group/ecx/support-content-view/-/support-content/Security%20Advisorie
- blog.nviso.eu/2025/09/29/you-name-it-vmware-elevates-it-cve-2025-41244
- blog.nviso.eu/2025/09/29/you-name-it-vmware-elevates-it-cve-2025-41244/
- lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00000.html
- nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-41244
- github.com/advisories/GHSA-76fp-m4vp-hxrq
- www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2025/09/29/10
Elsewhere on this site
Related CVEs (same products)
- High CVE-2026-12996 A use-after-free in OpenVPN 2.6.0 through 2.6.20 and 2.7_alpha1 through 2.7.4 allows remote... Jul 30, 2026
- Critical CVE-2026-59310 Broadcom VMware vCenter Path Traversal Vulnerability KEV Jul 30, 2026
- Medium CVE-2026-56968 Use of Uninitialized Resource in Gnu Sasl Jun 23, 2026
- High CVE-2026-49975 Apache HTTP Server: mod_http2 denial of service Jun 8, 2026
- Medium CVE-2026-41722 VMSA-2026-0004: VMware Cloud Foundation Operations updates address multiple vulnerabilities (CVE-2026-41722, CVE-2026-41723 and CVE-2026-41724) Jun 8, 2026
- High CVE-2026-41723 VMSA-2026-0004: VMware Cloud Foundation Operations updates address multiple vulnerabilities (CVE-2026-41722, CVE-2026-41723 and CVE-2026-41724) Jun 8, 2026
Not in any source we poll
Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.
- No fixed version, patch or mitigation documented.
- No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
- No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
- No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.
Answered from this record
Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.
What should defenders know first?
CVE-2025-41244 is "Broadcom VMware Aria Operations and VMware Tools Privilege Defined with Unsafe Actions Vulnerability", rated High. It affects Debian Linux (Debian); versions are in the scope table. It is in CISA KEV: there is evidence of real-world exploitation. CVSS 7.8 describes technical severity. EPSS 8.44% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.
Comments
Moderated technical discussion. Read the community guidelines.
No comments yet.
Sign in or create an account to comment and suggest corrections.