EsxiOperating system · VMware
CVE-2018-6977
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 ESXi (6.7, 6.5, 6.0), Workstation (15.x and 14.x) and Fusion (11.x and 10.x) contain a denial-of-service vulnerability due to an infinite loop in a 3D-rendering shader. Successfully exploiting this issue may allow an attacker with normal user privileges in the guest to make the VM unresponsive, and in some cases, possibly result other VMs on the host or the host itself becoming unresponsive.
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 products contain a denial-of-service vulnerability in the 3D-rendering shader where an infinite loop can be triggered. An attacker with normal user privileges in the guest VM can exploit this to make the VM unresponsive, potentially impacting other VMs on the host or the host itself.
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
EsxiOperating system
= 6.0= 6.5= 6.7
WorkstationApplication
>= 14.0.0, <= 14.1.5>= 15.0.0, <= 15.0.2
FusionApplication
>= 10.0.0, <= 10.1.5>= 11.0.0, <= 11.0.2CVSS 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
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/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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Identify the VMware product and versionFor ESXi: check the vSphere Client or run 'vmware -v' from the host console. For Workstation: Help > About VMware Workstation. For Fusion: VMware Fusion menu > About VMware FusionAffected if The installed version matches any of these ranges: ESXi 6.0, 6.5, or 6.7; Workstation 14.0.0-14.1.5 or 15.0.0-15.0.2; Fusion 10.0.0-10.1.5 or 11.0.0-11.0.2
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Locate the affected VM configuration fileFind the .vmx file for the target virtual machine in the VM's directory. This is the main configuration file for the virtual machine.Affected if The VM exists in the environment (required for the next check)
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Check if 3D acceleration is enabled in the VMOpen the VM's .vmx file and search for the line 'mks.enable3d = "TRUE"' or 'svga.autodetect = "TRUE"' which indicates 3D acceleration is activeAffected if The line 'mks.enable3d = "TRUE"' is present, indicating 3D rendering is enabled for this VM
You are affected if your VMware product version falls within the affected ranges AND any of your VMs have 3D acceleration enabled (mks.enable3d = TRUE).
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 dataApply vendor-supplied patches for ESXi 6.0/6.5/6.7, Workstation 14.x/15.x, and Fusion 10.x/11.x. Consider disabling 3D acceleration in VMs if 3D rendering is not required.
Fix this in Esxi
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 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 $2,560.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-6977 — 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-2018-6977 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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