ToolsApplication · VMware
CVE-2019-5522
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 Tools for Windows update addresses an out of bounds read vulnerability in vm3dmp driver which is installed with vmtools in Windows guest machines. This issue is present in versions 10.2.x and 10.3.x prior to 10.3.10. A local attacker with non-administrative access to a Windows guest with VMware Tools installed may be able to leak kernel information or create a denial of service attack on the same Windows guest machine.
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 confidenceOut of bounds read vulnerability in the vm3dmp driver (vm3dmp.sys) of VMware Tools for Windows. A local non-administrative attacker on a Windows guest VM can exploit this to leak kernel memory information or cause a denial of service on the same guest machine.
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
ToolsApplication
>= 10.0.0, < 10.3.10CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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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Confirm VMware Tools is installedCheck the Windows system for VMware Tools by looking in Add/Remove Programs (appwiz.cpl) for 'VMware Tools' or check C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Tools for the installation directoryAffected if VMware Tools is not listed in installed programs or the directory does not exist - the system is not affected because VMware Tools is not installed
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Identify installed VMware Tools versionOpen the Windows Registry editor (regedit) and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VMware, Inc.\VMware Tools, or check the 'About VMware Tools' dialog in the system trayAffected if The version displayed is >= 10.0.0 and < 10.3.10 - the installed version falls within the vulnerable range
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Check for vm3dmp driver presenceOpen Device Manager, expand 'System devices', and look for 'VMware vm3dmp' or run 'driverquery /v | findstr vm3dmp' in Command PromptAffected if The vm3dmp driver is present or loaded - the vulnerable driver component exists in the environment
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Verify driver file versionNavigate to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\vm3dmp.sys (or the VMware Tools install path), right-click the file, select Properties, and check the File Version on the Details tabAffected if The file version is lower than 10.3.10 - the driver version matches a vulnerable release
A Windows guest VM is affected if VMware Tools version is 10.0.0 through 10.3.9 (inclusive) AND the vm3dmp driver is present on the system.
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 data10.3.10
Update VMware Tools for Windows to version 10.3.10 or later to remediate this vulnerability. This is a guest-side vulnerability that requires updating the VMware Tools installation within each affected Windows VM.
Fix this in Tools
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 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 $2,272.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-5522 — 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-2019-5522 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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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.
- 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