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EsxiOperating system · VMware

CVE-2012-2448

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v2.0 Published 2012-05-04
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable 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
VMware ESXi 3.5 through 5.0 and ESX 3.5 through 4.1 allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory overwrite) via NFS traffic.

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

Memory corruption vulnerability in VMware ESXi 3.5-5.0 and ESX 3.5-4.1 allows remote attackers to overwrite memory via specially crafted NFS traffic, potentially leading to arbitrary code execution or denial of service.

MitigationRestrict NFS traffic to trusted sources using firewall rules, or upgrade to patched VMware versions. If NFS is not required, disable it.

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
EsxiOperating system
Affected:= 3.5= 4.0= 4.1= 5.0
EsxOperating system
Affected:= 3.5= 4.0= 4.1

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Partial
Integrity
Partial
Availability
Partial

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

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. Identify product type and version
    Run 'vmware -v' or 'esxcli system version get' to determine if the system is VMware ESXi or ESX and note the exact version number
    Affected if The product is ESXi or ESX and the version is 3.5, 4.0, 4.1, or 5.0 (ESXi only extends to 5.0)
  2. Check for NFS datastores
    Run 'esxcfg-nas -l' or check vSphere Client for NFS-connected datastores
    Affected if Any NFS datastores are present and connected
  3. Verify NFS service status
    Check if the NFS client service is running using 'esxcfg-firewall -q' or by reviewing firewall rules for NFS ports (2049/TCP and 2049/UDP)
    Affected if NFS service is enabled or NFS firewall rules allow inbound traffic
  4. Identify active NFS mounts
    Review /vmfs/volumes for NFS-mounted datastores or run 'esxcli storage nfs list' to enumerate NFS shares
    Affected if Any NFS mounts are actively configured on the system

A system is affected if it runs VMware ESXi 3.5-5.0 or ESX 3.5-4.1 AND has NFS functionality enabled or NFS datastores configured, making it reachable by crafted NFS traffic.

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

Restrict NFS traffic to trusted sources using firewall rules, or upgrade to patched VMware versions. If NFS is not required, disable it.

Fix this in Esxi Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
40.0 hours of engineering $7,000
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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-2012-2448 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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