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Vulnerability DatabaseCVE-2025-22230

CVE-2025-22230: 
VMware Tools vulnerability analysis and mitigation

Overview

VMware Tools for Windows contains an authentication bypass vulnerability (CVE-2025-22230) discovered by Sergey Bliznyuk of Positive Technologies. The vulnerability was disclosed on March 25, 2025, and affects VMware Tools versions 11.x.x and 12.x.x. The flaw is due to improper access control in the software (VMware Advisory).

Technical details

The vulnerability has been assigned a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8 (High) with the following vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. The flaw is classified as CWE-288 (Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel) and stems from improper access control mechanisms in the software (NVD, Hacker News).

Impact

A successful exploitation of this vulnerability allows a malicious actor with non-administrative privileges on a Windows guest VM to perform certain high-privilege operations within that VM, effectively bypassing authentication controls (VMware Advisory).

Mitigation and workarounds

Broadcom has released VMware Tools version 12.5.1 to address this vulnerability. There are no workarounds available, and users are strongly advised to upgrade to the patched version (VMware Advisory).

Additional resources

Source: This report was generated using AI

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