dbcve.org
Esx ServerApplication · VMware

CVE-2008-0967

MEDIUM · 6.9 CVSS v2.0 Published 2008-06-05
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
74/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Untrusted search path vulnerability in vmware-authd in VMware Workstation 5.x before 5.5.7 build 91707 and 6.x before 6.0.4 build 93057, VMware Player 1.x before 1.0.7 build 91707 and 2.x before 2.0.4 build 93057, and VMware Server before 1.0.6 build 91891 on Linux, and VMware ESXi 3.5 and VMware ESX 2.5.4 through 3.5, allows local users to gain privileges via a library path option in a configuration file.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Untrusted search path vulnerability in vmware-authd on Linux allows local users to gain privileges by specifying a malicious library path in a configuration file. The authentication daemon loads libraries from a user-controllable path, enabling library injection and privilege escalation.

MitigationApply VMware security patches for affected versions (Workstation 5.5.7/6.0.4, Player 1.0.7/2.0.4, Server 1.0.6) or upgrade to newer versions. Limit local user access to configuration files and directories used by vmware-authd until patched.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Esx ServerApplication
Affected:= 2.5.5= 3.1= 3.2= 3.3= 3.5
EsxiApplication
Affected:= 3.5
PlayerApplication
Affected:= 1.0.0= 1.0.1= 1.0.2= 1.0.3= 1.0.4= 1.0.5= 1.0.6= 2.0= 2.0.1= 2.0.2= 2.0.3
ServerApplication
Affected:= 1.0.3
Vmware ServerApplication
Affected:= 1.0.0= 1.0.1= 1.0.2= 1.0.4= 1.0.5
Vmware WorkstationApplication
Affected:= 5.5.0= 5.5.2= 5.5.5= 5.5.6= 6.0.1= 6.0.2= 6.0.3
WorkstationApplication
Affected:= 5.5.1= 5.5.3= 5.5.4= 6.0
EsxOperating system
Affected:= 3.0.0= 3.0.1= 3.0.2

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
M
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check if vmware-authd is present
    Run 'which vmware-authd' or 'find / -name vmware-authd 2>/dev/null' to locate the vmware-authd executable
    Affected if vmware-authd exists on the system and is from an affected VMware product
  2. Identify installed VMware product and version
    Run 'vmware-authd --version' or check the installed package version via 'rpm -qa | grep vmware' or 'dpkg -l | grep vmware'
    Affected if The installed version matches one of the affected versions listed (e.g., VMware Workstation 5.5.x, 6.0.x; Player 1.0.x, 2.0.x; Server 1.0.x; ESX/ESXi 2.5.5, 3.0.x, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.5)
  3. Verify vmware-authd is running
    Run 'ps aux | grep vmware-authd' to check if the daemon is currently executing
    Affected if vmware-authd process is running on a Linux host with a vulnerable version
  4. Check configuration file permissions and ownership
    Examine configuration files used by vmware-authd (typically in /etc/vmware or /usr/lib/vmware/authd) with 'ls -la' and review for world-writable permissions or ownership by untrusted users
    Affected if Configuration files or directories used by vmware-authd are writable by non-root users, allowing them to inject malicious library paths

The system is affected if vmware-authd is running on Linux with a version matching the affected product versions AND configuration files/directories are writable by local users.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply VMware security patches for affected versions (Workstation 5.5.7/6.0.4, Player 1.0.7/2.0.4, Server 1.0.6) or upgrade to newer versions. Limit local user access to configuration files and directories used by vmware-authd until patched.

Fix this in Esx Server Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,060
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,696.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-0967 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2008-0967 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data