Horizon ClientApplication · VMware
CVE-2018-6964
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 · uneditedVMware Horizon Client for Linux (4.x before 4.8.0 and prior) contains a local privilege escalation vulnerability due to insecure usage of SUID binary. Successful exploitation of this issue may allow unprivileged users to escalate their privileges to root on a Linux machine where Horizon 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 confidenceVMware Horizon Client for Linux versions prior to 4.8.0 contain a local privilege escalation vulnerability stemming from an insecurely configured SUID binary. Unprivileged users can exploit this SUID binary to gain root-level access on systems where the vulnerable client is installed.
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 ClientApplication
>= 4.0.0, < 4.8.0CVSS 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
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify VMware Horizon Client for Linux is installedCheck for the presence of VMware Horizon Client installation directories or use package management tools (dpkg -l, rpm -qa, or look in /opt/ for vmware-horizon or similar directories)Affected if The client is installed on the Linux system
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Determine the installed version of VMware Horizon ClientRun 'vmware-view --version' or check version files in the installation directory (commonly /opt/vmware/horizon or /usr/lib/vmware/horizon)Affected if The installed version is 4.0.0 through 4.7.x (any version >= 4.0.0 but < 4.8.0)
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Locate SUID binaries within the VMware Horizon Client installationUse 'find /opt/vmware -perm -4000 2>/dev/null' or 'find /usr -perm -4000 2>/dev/null' to search for SUID binaries, then cross-reference with the Horizon Client installation directoryAffected if Any VMware Horizon Client binary has the SUID bit set and is owned by root
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Verify the SUID binary can be exploited for privilege escalationAs an unprivileged user, attempt to execute the SUID binary with elevated privileges or analyze its permissions and ownership (ls -la on the binary to confirm it is root-owned with SUID bit)Affected if The SUID binary is root-owned with the SUID bit enabled and allows unprivileged users to execute commands as root
The system is affected if VMware Horizon Client for Linux version 4.0.0 through 4.7.x is installed with a root-owned SUID binary that unprivileged users can exploit for escalation to root privileges.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 data4.8.0
Update VMware Horizon Client for Linux to version 4.8.0 or later. If immediate patching is not feasible, identify and remove the SUID bit from the vulnerable binary as a compensating control until the patch can be applied.
Fix this in Horizon Client
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,304.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-6964 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2018-6964 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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
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