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vulnerability

CVE-2025-41244

7.8
High
KEV · Exploited in wildEPSS 9%Patch available

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.

exploited
Yes, in CISA KEV since 30 Oct 2025fix by 20 Nov 2025 (CISA deadline for US federal agencies)unvetted proof-of-concept code on github
fix
Patch available see the advisory in the references
likelihood
EPSS 8.6%
Published 29 Sept 2025Analysed here 2 Nov 2026CVSS scored by the publisher (CNA)

do firstApply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

triage
surface unknownruntimeWAF can block: noAV · localCWE-267· Common Weakness

Can a WAF block it? No. The attack needs local access to the machine, so a WAF is not on its path.

Also consider: patch

Based on the attack vector (local or physical access). We check Cloudflare, AWS, Google Cloud Armor and Azure; for Akamai, Imperva, Fastly, F5, ask your vendor.

cvss vector
attack vectorlocalattack complexitylowprivileges requiredlowuser interactionnonescopeunchangedconfidentialityhighintegrityhighavailabilityhigh
CVSS 3.1 · CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
common questions

Is CVE-2025-41244 being exploited?

Yes. CVE-2025-41244 appears in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which means exploitation in the wild has been confirmed and reported. Treat it as active rather than theoretical, and patch it ahead of higher-scoring vulnerabilities that carry no exploitation evidence.

How severe is CVE-2025-41244?

CVE-2025-41244 is rated High with a CVSS score of 7.8. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.

Is there a patch for CVE-2025-41244?

Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2025-41244. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.

What does CVE-2025-41244 affect?

CVE-2025-41244 affects vmware:aria_operations, vmware:cloud_foundation, vmware:cloud_foundation_operations, vmware:open_vm_tools, and 4 further products or versions. Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.

Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.

executive summary
technical analysis
affected
vmware:aria_operationsvmware:cloud_foundationvmware:cloud_foundation_operationsvmware:open_vm_toolsvmware:telco_cloud_infrastructurevmware:telco_cloud_platformdebian:debian_linuxvmware:tools
affected versions
VMware VCF operations
  • affected>= 9.0.x and < 9.0.1.0
VMware VMware Aria Operations
  • affected>= 8.18.x and < 8.18.5
VMware VMware Cloud Foundation
  • affected>= 5.x and < 8.18.5
  • affected>= 4.x and < 8.18.5
VMware VMware Telco Cloud Infrastructure
  • affected>= 3.x and < 8.18.5
  • affected>= 2.x and < 8.18.5
VMware VMware Telco Cloud Platform
  • affected>= 5.x and < 8.18.5
  • affected>= 4.x and < 8.18.5
VMware VMware tools
  • affected>= 13.x.x.x and < 13.0.5.0
  • affected>= 12.5.x and < 12.5.4

As published in the CVE Program record. A version outside these ranges is not a statement that it is unaffected — vendors sometimes understate a range, and distribution-backported builds carry upstream numbers that do not reflect what was patched into them.

public exploits

Unvetted proof-of-concept code on GitHub: 3 GitHub proofs of concept

GitHub proofs of concept

Listed so you can judge urgency, not as a recommendation to run anything. GitHub “proofs of concept” are unvetted: some are fake or carry malware. Exploit-DB marks the entries its staff verified.

cisa ssvc

exploitation
active
automatable
no
technical impact
total

Assessed by CISA 30 Oct 2025 (SSVC 2.0.3).

timeline

  1. 29 Sept 2025Published
  2. 30 Sept 2025First proof-of-concept repository on GitHub (unvetted) · same day later
  3. 30 Oct 2025Added to CISA KEV (exploited in the wild) · 30 days later
  4. 30 Oct 2025CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation active · same day later
  5. 20 Nov 2025CISA remediation due date (US federal agencies) · 21 days later
  6. 26 Feb 2026CVE record last updated · 99 days (about 3 months) later
  7. 2 Nov 2026Analysed by vulneraibility.com · 249 days (about 8 months) later
how to fix
Remediation steps are tailored for users whose stack is affected. Add this technology to your stack to see the fix checklist.
references
NVDCVE.orgCVE DetailsSource
6 references in the CVE record: 1 advisory, 1 exploit, 4 links
  • Advisorysupport.broadcom.com /web/ecx/support-content-notification/-/external/content/SecurityAdvisories/0/36
  • Exploitblog.nviso.eu /2025/09/29/you-name-it-vmware-elevates-it-cve-2025-41244/
  • Linksupport.broadcom.com /group/ecx/support-content-view/-/support-content/Security%20Advisories/VMSA-202
  • Linkcisa.gov /known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2025-41244
  • Linklists.debian.org /debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00000.html
  • Linkopenwall.com /lists/oss-security/2025/09/29/10

sources

  • CVE List (CVE.org): description, affected versions, references; CVE Terms of Use
  • NVD: CVSS and CPE data
  • CISA KEV catalog: exploitation, date added, due date
  • CISA Vulnrichment (ADP): SSVC decision points
  • FIRST EPSS: exploit probability and percentile
  • PoC-in-GitHub: GitHub repositories that claim a proof of concept
  • Summary, impact and triage tags: written by our AI analysis pipeline from the sources above. Check them against the sources.
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