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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 13 Feb 2026.
Cloud FoundationApplication · VMware

CVE-2024-37079

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-06-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.2 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild 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
vCenter Server contains a heap-overflow vulnerability in the implementation of the DCERPC protocol. A malicious actor with network access to vCenter Server may trigger this vulnerability by sending a specially crafted network packet potentially leading to remote code execution.

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 confidence

VMware vCenter Server contains a heap-overflow vulnerability in the DCERPC protocol implementation. An unauthenticated attacker with network access to vCenter can send a specially crafted packet to trigger the overflow and potentially achieve remote code execution. This is a critical flaw in a foundational infrastructure component.

MitigationApply the official VMware patch when available. Immediately restrict network access to vCenter Server by placing it behind a firewall and blocking DCERPC (port 135, 445, and dynamic ports) from untrusted networks until the patch can be applied.

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
Cloud FoundationApplication
Affected:>= 4.0, < 5.2
Vcenter ServerApplication
Affected:= 8.0= 7.0

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

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify the installed vCenter Server version
    Access the vSphere Client and navigate to About, or run 'vpxd -v' from the vCenter Server Appliance shell, or check the VMware Product Release Catalog
    Affected if The version is 7.0 or 8.0 (exact matches), or the Cloud Foundation version is 4.0 or higher but below 5.2
  2. Confirm the vCenter Server deployment type
    Determine whether the installation is a standalone vCenter Server or part of a VMware Cloud Foundation environment
    Affected if Running VMware Cloud Foundation version 4.0 through 5.1.x, or standalone vCenter Server 7.0 or 8.0
  3. Verify DCERPC service accessibility
    Check if port 135 (DCERPC endpoint mapper) or dynamic ports 1025-65535 are exposed externally. Use network scanning tools such as nmap: 'nmap -sT -p 135 <target>' and review firewall rules for inbound access to these ports
    Affected if DCERPC ports are reachable from untrusted networks or the internet
  4. Review network exposure of management interfaces
    Examine firewall configurations, security groups, or ACLs to determine if vCenter Server management ports (443, 80, 22, 135, etc.) are accessible from outside the trusted network segment
    Affected if Management interfaces and DCERPC services are exposed to untrusted or public network segments

You are affected if your vCenter Server version is 7.0 or 8.0, or your Cloud Foundation version is 4.0 through 5.1.x, AND the DCERPC service is network-accessible from an untrusted location.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 5.2 or later
Fixed in 5.2
Vendor patch support.broadcom.com →
Interim mitigation

Apply the official VMware patch when available. Immediately restrict network access to vCenter Server by placing it behind a firewall and blocking DCERPC (port 135, 445, and dynamic ports) from untrusted networks until the patch can be applied.

Recommended fix High confidence

Cloud Foundation: upgrade to 5.2 or later | vCenter Server 7.0: latest 7.x patch | vCenter Server 8.0: latest 8.x patch

  1. Review the upgrade prerequisites and backup procedures in the Broadcom support documentation before proceeding
  2. For Cloud Foundation (versions 4.0 through 5.1.x): Upgrade to version 5.2 or later which contains the security fix
  3. For vCenter Server 7.0: Apply the latest security patch from the vCenter Server 7.0 update lifecycle (VMware ESXi 7.0 and vCenter Server 7.0 latest patches)
  4. For vCenter Server 8.0: Apply the latest security patch from the vCenter Server 8.0 update lifecycle (VMware ESXi 8.0 and vCenter Server 8.0 latest patches)
  5. Schedule a maintenance window and ensure backups are completed before initiating the upgrade
  6. After upgrade, verify vCenter Server services start correctly and the Web Client is accessible
  7. Review CISA advisory (cisa.gov) for additional Indicators of Compromise if exposure is suspected
Caveat Review VMware compatibility guides; major version upgrades (e.g., 7.0 to 8.0) may require compatibility checks for plugins and integrations

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

Fix this in Cloud Foundation Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
40.0 hours of engineering $7,000
Get it fixed fast

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $11,200.

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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-2024-37079 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