Race condition in VMware ESXi, Fusion, Workstation and Cloud Foundation

1) Race condition

EUVDB-ID: #VU29299

Risk: Low

CVSSv4.0: 4.8 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Clear]

CVE-ID: CVE-2020-3966

CWE-ID: CWE-362 - Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization ('Race Condition')

Exploit availability: No

Description

The vulnerability allows a local attacker to escalate privileges on the system.

The vulnerability exists due to a race condition in the USB 2.0 controller (EHCI). A local attacker can exploit the race, leading to heap-overflow and execute arbitrary code on the system.

Mitigation

Install updates from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

VMware ESXi: 6.5 - 7.0

VMware Fusion: 11.0.0 - 11.5.1

VMware Workstation: 15.0.0 - 15.5.1

Cloud Foundation: 3.0 - 4.0

CPE2.3

• cpe:2.3:o:vmware:vmware_esxi:6.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:o:vmware:vmware_esxi:6.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:o:vmware:vmware_esxi:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vmware_fusion:11.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vmware_fusion:11.0.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vmware_fusion:11.0.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vmware_workstation:15.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vmware_workstation:15.0.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vmware_workstation:15.0.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vmware_cloud_foundation:3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

External links

https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2020-0015.html
https://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-20-783/

Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

No. This vulnerability can be exploited locally. The attacker should have authentication credentials and successfully authenticate on the system.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.