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WorkstationApplication · VMware

CVE-2012-3289

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v2.0 Published 2012-06-14
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
87/100
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 Workstation 8.x before 8.0.4, VMware Player 4.x before 4.0.4, VMware ESXi 3.5 through 5.0, and VMware ESX 3.5 through 4.1 allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (guest OS crash) via crafted traffic from a remote virtual device.

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

This is a denial of service vulnerability in multiple VMware virtualization products. Attackers can crash guest operating systems by sending specially crafted network traffic through a remote virtual device. Affected products include VMware Workstation 8.x before 8.0.4, VMware Player 4.x before 4.0.4, VMware ESXi 3.5-5.0, and VMware ESX 3.5-4.1.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied patches by updating to VMware Workstation 8.0.4+, Player 4.0.4+, or the appropriate ESXi/ESX patch versions. For production environments, plan maintenance windows for hypervisor updates.

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
WorkstationApplication
Affected:= 8.0= 8.0.1= 8.0.2= 8.0.3
PlayerApplication
Affected:= 4.0= 4.0.1= 4.0.2= 4.0.3
EsxOperating system
Affected:= 3.5= 4.0= 4.1
EsxiOperating system
Affected:= 3.5= 4.0= 4.1= 5.0

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
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/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. Identify the VMware product installed
    Run 'vmware -v' for Workstation/Player, or check the ESXi/ESX host via 'esxcli system version get' or the vSphere Client host summary
    Affected if The product is VMware Workstation, Player, ESX, or ESXi but the version is unknown or appears to be in the affected list
  2. Check VMware Workstation version
    Open Workstation, go to Help > About, or run 'vmware -v' from command line. Affected versions: 8.0, 8.0.1, 8.0.2, 8.0.3
    Affected if The installed version is 8.0.x (any version before 8.0.4)
  3. Check VMware Player version
    Open Player, go to Help > About, or run 'vmware -v' from command line. Affected versions: 4.0, 4.0.1, 4.0.2, 4.0.3
    Affected if The installed version is 4.0.x (any version before 4.0.4)
  4. Check VMware ESXi version
    Run 'esxcli system version get' on the ESXi host, or view the host summary in vSphere Client. Affected versions: 3.5, 4.0, 4.1, 5.0
    Affected if The installed version is 3.5, 4.0, 4.1, or 5.0 (any version before patched)
  5. Check VMware ESX version
    Run 'vmware -v' on the ESX host console, or check via VirtualCenter/ESX host client. Affected versions: 3.5, 4.0, 4.1
    Affected if The installed version is 3.5, 4.0, or 4.1 (any version before patched)
  6. Verify network virtual devices are present
    Inspect VM configuration for virtual network adapters (vmxnet, e1000, vmxnet3) or check ESXi host networking via 'esxcli network vswitch standard list' or vSphere Client
    Affected if Virtual machines have network adapters connected to a virtual switch, as the DoS is triggered through remote virtual device network traffic

You are affected if you are running any of the listed VMware products at the specific affected versions (Workstation 8.0-8.0.3, Player 4.0-4.0.3, ESX 3.5-4.1, ESXi 3.5-5.0) and have virtual network devices configured.

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 vendor-supplied patches by updating to VMware Workstation 8.0.4+, Player 4.0.4+, or the appropriate ESXi/ESX patch versions. For production environments, plan maintenance windows for hypervisor updates.

Fix this in Workstation Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,840
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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-2012-3289 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