#VU60617 Race condition in VMware ESXi - CVE-2021-22041

Vulnerability identifier: #VU60617

Vulnerability risk: Medium

CVSSv4.0: 6.1 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Green]

CVE-ID: CVE-2021-22041

CWE-ID: CWE-362

Exploitation vector: Network

Exploit availability: No

Vulnerable software:
VMware ESXi
Operating systems & Components / Operating system

Vendor: VMware, Inc

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote user to escalate privileges on the system.

The vulnerability exists due to a double-fetch vulnerability in the UHCI USB controller. A remote user with administrative permissions on the guest OS can trigger a race condition and execute arbitrary code as the virtual machine's VMX process running on the host.
Successful exploitation of the vulnerability may allow an attacker to compromise the hypervisor.

Mitigation
Install updates from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

VMware ESXi: before ESXi70U1e-19324898

---

External links
https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2022-0004.html

---

Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

Yes. This vulnerability can be exploited by a remote authenticated privileged user via the Internet.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

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