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WorkstationApplication · VMware

CVE-2013-1662

MEDIUM · 6.9 CVSS v2.0 Published 2013-08-24
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
vmware-mount in VMware Workstation 8.x and 9.x and VMware Player 4.x and 5.x, on systems based on Debian GNU/Linux, allows host OS users to gain host OS privileges via a crafted lsb_release binary in a directory in the PATH, related to use of the popen library function.

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 · moderate confidence

The vmware-mount utility in VMware Workstation 8.x/9.x and Player 4.x/5.x uses the popen() library function to execute lsb_release without an absolute path. On Debian-based systems, an attacker with host OS user privileges can place a malicious lsb_release binary in a directory earlier in the PATH, causing it to be executed with the elevated privileges of the vmware-mount process, resulting in privilege escalation to host OS privileges.

MitigationUpgrade VMware Workstation or Player to a version that includes the security fix. As a temporary workaround, ensure that only trusted directories with proper permissions precede system binary directories in the PATH environment variable.

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= 8.0.0.18997= 8.0.1= 8.0.1.27038= 8.0.2= 8.0.3= 8.0.4= 8.0.5= 8.0.6= 9.0= 9.0.1= 9.0.2
PlayerApplication
Affected:= 4.0= 4.0.0.18997= 4.0.1= 4.0.2= 4.0.3= 4.0.4= 4.0.5= 4.0.6= 5.0= 5.0.1= 5.0.2

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 VMware product version
    Run 'vmware -v' for Workstation or Player, or 'vmware-installer -l' to list installed components
    Affected if Version is 8.0.x, 8.0.0.18997, 8.0.1.x, 8.0.2.x, 8.0.3.x, 8.0.4.x, 8.0.5.x, 8.0.6.x, 9.0.x, 9.0.1.x, 9.0.2.x (Workstation) or 4.0.x, 4.0.0.18997, 4.0.1.x, 4.0.2.x, 4.0.3.x, 4.0.4.x, 4.0.5.x, 4.0.6.x, 5.0.x, 5.0.1.x, 5.0.2.x (Player)
  2. Verify vmware-mount utility exists
    Run 'which vmware-mount' or 'find /usr -name vmware-mount 2>/dev/null'
    Affected if The vmware-mount binary exists on the system
  3. Confirm Debian-based host OS
    Check for /etc/debian_version or run 'lsb_release -is'
    Affected if The host OS is Debian-based (Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, etc.) and /etc/debian_version exists or lsb_release identifies it as Debian/Ubuntu derivative
  4. Examine PATH for user-writable directories
    Run 'echo $PATH' and review output
    Affected if Any directory in PATH is writable by the attacking user and appears before system binary directories like /usr/bin or /bin

A user is affected if they run vulnerable VMware Workstation 8.x/9.x or Player 4.x/5.x on a Debian-based host where an untrusted directory in PATH precedes system binary directories and the vmware-mount utility is available.

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

Upgrade VMware Workstation or Player to a version that includes the security fix. As a temporary workaround, ensure that only trusted directories with proper permissions precede system binary directories in the PATH environment variable.

Fix this in Workstation Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
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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-2013-1662 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
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