dbcve.org
Horizon ViewApplication · VMware

CVE-2017-4918

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-06-08
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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 Horizon View Client (2.x, 3.x and 4.x prior to 4.5.0) contains a command injection vulnerability in the service startup script. Successful exploitation of this issue may allow unprivileged users to escalate their privileges to root on the Mac OSX system where the client is installed.

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

VMware Horizon View Client versions 2.x, 3.x, and 4.x prior to 4.5.0 contain a command injection vulnerability in the service startup script on Mac OSX. Unprivileged local users can exploit this to inject and execute commands with root privileges by manipulating the startup script.

MitigationUpgrade VMware Horizon View Client to version 4.5.0 or later to remediate the command injection vulnerability in the service startup script.

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
Horizon ViewApplication
Affected:= 2.0= 2.1= 2.2= 2.3= 3.0= 3.1= 3.2= 3.3= 4.0.0= 4.0.1= 4.1.0= 4.2.0

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
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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. Confirm VMware Horizon View Client is installed on Mac OSX
    Open Terminal and run: ls -la /Applications/ | grep -i 'Horizon' or ls -la ~/Applications/ | grep -i 'Horizon'. If the application bundle 'VMware Horizon View Client.app' exists, the product is present.
    Affected if If the application is not present, the system is not affected.
  2. Determine the installed version of VMware Horizon View Client
    Run: defaults read '/Applications/VMware Horizon View Client.app/Contents/Info.plist' CFBundleShortVersionString to read the version from the application bundle's Info.plist.
    Affected if If the version is 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 4.0.0, 4.0.1, 4.1.0, or 4.2.0, the system is within the affected version range.
  3. Verify the service startup script exists
    Check for the presence of VMware Horizon startup scripts by running: ls -la /Library/LaunchDaemons/ | grep -i vmware or ls -la /Library/LaunchAgents/ | grep -i horizon. The vulnerability exists in these service startup scripts.
    Affected if If startup scripts exist and the version is in the affected range, the command injection vulnerability is present.

The system is affected if VMware Horizon View Client is installed on Mac OSX with a version between 2.0 and 4.2.0 inclusive, and the service startup scripts are present on the system.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade VMware Horizon View Client to version 4.5.0 or later to remediate the command injection vulnerability in the service startup script.

Recommended fix High confidence

VMware Horizon View Client 4.5.0 or later

  1. 1. Backup any existing Horizon View Client configurations and settings.
  2. 2. Uninstall the current version of VMware Horizon View Client (2.0, 2.1, 2.2, or 2.3) from the Mac OSX system.
  3. 3. Download VMware Horizon View Client version 4.5.0 or later from the official VMware download page.
  4. 4. Install the new version of Horizon View Client by running the installer and following the on-screen prompts.
  5. 5. Verify the installation was successful by checking the client version.
  6. 6. Reconfigure any necessary connection settings to your Horizon environment.
Caveat Review VMware Horizon View Client 4.5.0 release notes for any feature changes or compatibility considerations with your Horizon environment

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Horizon View Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 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-2017-4918 — 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-2017-4918 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