Horizon View AgentsApplication · VMware
CVE-2018-6971
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 View Agents (7.x.x before 7.5.1) contain a local information disclosure vulnerability due to insecure logging of credentials in the vmmsi.log file when an account other than the currently logged on user is specified during installation (including silent installations). Successful exploitation of this issue may allow low privileged users access to the credentials specified during the Horizon View Agent installation.
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 View Agents before 7.5.1 insecurely log credentials to vmmsi.log when installing with an alternate user account (including silent installations). This exposes credentials entered during installation to any local user who can read the log file, allowing privilege escalation via credential theft.
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 View AgentsApplication
>= 7.0.0, < 7.5.1CVSS 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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Check installed VMware Horizon View Agents versionUse the system's installed programs list or the VMware Horizon View Agent installer to determine the currently installed version. Compare it to the affected range: >= 7.0.0 and < 7.5.1Affected if The installed version falls within 7.0.0 through 7.5.0 (inclusive)
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Locate vmmsi.log fileSearch the system for the vmmsi.log file. Common locations include the installation directory, temp folders, or the directory where the installer was run fromAffected if The vmmsi.log file exists on the system
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Inspect vmmsi.log for credential stringsOpen the vmmsi.log file with a text editor or use a command to search for patterns that may indicate logged credentials (such as password, user, account, or other credential-related terms entered during installation)Affected if The log file contains any username, password, or other credentials entered during the agent installation
You are affected if the VMware Horizon View Agents version is between 7.0.0 and 7.5.0 AND the vmmsi.log file exists and contains installation credentials.
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 data7.5.1
Update VMware Horizon View Agents to version 7.5.1 or later. Review and purge any existing vmmsi.log files that may contain credentials from prior installations.
Fix this in Horizon View Agents
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,488.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-6971 — 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-2018-6971 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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