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ToolsApplication · VMware

CVE-2023-20900

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-08-31
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.3.26 / 12.3.0 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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
A malicious actor that has been granted Guest Operation Privileges https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/8.0/vsphere-security/GUID-6A952214-0E5E-4CCF-9D2A-90948FF643EC.html  in a target virtual machine may be able to elevate their privileges if that target virtual machine has been assigned a more privileged Guest Alias https://vdc-download.vmware.com/vmwb-repository/dcr-public/d1902b0e-d479-46bf-8ac9-cee0e31e8ec0/07ce8dbd-db48-4261-9b8f-c6d3ad8ba472/vim.vm.guest.AliasManager.html .

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

A detailed technical summary for this CVE is being prepared.

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
Affected:>= 10.3.0, < 12.3.0>= 10.3.0, < 10.3.26
Open Vm ToolsApplication
Affected:>= 10.3.0, < 12.3.0
FedoraOperating system
Affected:= 37= 38= 39
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 10.0= 11.0= 12.0
Ontap Select Deploy Administration UtilityApplication
Affected:all versions

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
Adjacent
Complexity
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/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 10.3.26 / 12.3.0 or later
Fixed in 10.3.2612.3.0
Vendor patch www.openwall.com →
Recommended fix High confidence

VMware Tools 12.3.0+ or 10.3.26+ / Open VM Tools 12.3.0+

  1. 1. Identify the exact VMware Tools or Open VM Tools version installed in the affected virtual machine
  2. 2. For VMware Tools 12.x line: upgrade to version 12.3.0 or later
  3. 3. For VMware Tools 10.3.x line: upgrade to version 10.3.26 or later
  4. 4. For Open VM Tools: upgrade to version 12.3.0 or later
  5. 5. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the tools version in vSphere Client or using 'vmware-toolbox-cmd --version'
  6. 6. Ensure guest operation privileges are reviewed and only granted to trusted users as per VMware vSphere security guidelines
Caveat Upgrading VMware Tools requires a VM reboot in most cases; ensure VM snapshots are taken or migrations are coordinated before upgrading

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 $1,950. Get the upgrade done

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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-2023-20900 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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