dbcve.org
Vcenter ServerApplication · VMware

CVE-2023-20894

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-06-22
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 7.0 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click Patch available

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
The VMware vCenter Server contains an out-of-bounds write vulnerability in the implementation of the DCERPC protocol. A malicious actor with network access to vCenter Server may trigger an out-of-bound write by sending a specially crafted packet leading to memory corruption.

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
How this class of weakness works · CWE-787

The program writes past the bounds of a buffer, overwriting adjacent memory an attacker can turn to their advantage. Crafted input can overwrite control data and redirect execution. Remediation is validating every index and length before a write, plus modern memory-safety mitigations.

General guidance for the out-of-bounds write class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

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
Vcenter ServerApplication
Affected:< 7.0= 7.0= 8.0

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

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 7.0 or later
Fixed in 7.0
Vendor patch www.vmware.com →
Recommended fix High confidence

vCenter Server 7.0 U3n or later / vCenter Server 8.0 U1 or later (specific patch versions per VMSA-2023-0014)

  1. 1. Review the VMware security advisory VMSA-2023-0014 at https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2023-0014.html to identify the specific patch version for your vCenter Server deployment
  2. 2. Determine your current vCenter Server version by logging into the vSphere Client or running: 'vpxd -v'
  3. 3. Download the appropriate patch from VMware Customer Connect (https://customerconnect.vmware.com/) matching your deployment (vCenter Server 7.0 or 8.0)
  4. 4. Back up your vCenter Server Appliance before applying the patch
  5. 5. Apply the patch using the vCenter Server Update Planner or via command line: 'software-packages install --patch --url <patch_location>'
  6. 6. Verify the patch installation completed successfully and the vCenter Server services restarted
  7. 7. Confirm the vulnerability is remediated by checking the vCenter Server version now reflects the patched release
Caveat Standard vCenter Server patch application may require downtime; test in staging environment before production deployment; ensure backup and valid snapshot before applying

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

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $3,550. Get the upgrade done

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-20894 — 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-2023-20894 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