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FusionApplication · VMware

CVE-2024-38811

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-09-03
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 13.6 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click

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
VMware Fusion (13.x before 13.6) contains a code-execution vulnerability due to the usage of an insecure environment variable. A malicious actor with standard user privileges may exploit this vulnerability to execute code in the context of the Fusion application.

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 · moderate confidence

VMware Fusion versions 13.x before 13.6 contain a code execution vulnerability stemming from the use of an insecure environment variable. A local attacker with standard user privileges can exploit this flaw to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the Fusion application process.

MitigationUpgrade VMware Fusion to version 13.6 or later to remediate the insecure environment variable vulnerability.

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
FusionApplication
Affected:>= 13.0.0, < 13.6

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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. Confirm VMware Fusion is installed
    Check if VMware Fusion.app exists in /Applications or ~/Applications. On macOS, you can run: ls -la /Applications | grep -i vmware
    Affected if VMware Fusion is not present in the system (not affected)
  2. Determine installed VMware Fusion version
    Run: /Applications/VMware\ Fusion.app/Contents/MacOS/fusion --version or right-click VMware Fusion.app > Get Info to view the Version field
    Affected if Version cannot be determined or Fusion is not fully installed
  3. Compare version against affected range
    Check if the installed version is 13.0.0, 13.0.1, 13.0.2, 13.1.x, 13.2.x, 13.3.x, 13.4.x, 13.5.x, or any 13.x version below 13.6. The version must be >= 13.0.0 AND < 13.6 to be affected
    Affected if Installed version is 13.0.0 through 13.5.x (any version >= 13.0.0 but less than 13.6)
  4. Verify the vulnerability is exploitable
    This vulnerability requires a local attacker with standard user privileges to set a malicious environment variable before VMware Fusion is launched. The flaw only affects the Fusion process itself
    Affected if A local unprivileged user can set environment variables that influence Fusion's execution context

If VMware Fusion version 13.0.0 through 13.5.x is installed, the environment is affected by CVE-2024-38811 and the insecure environment variable can be exploited for code execution.

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 13.6 or later
Fixed in 13.6
Interim mitigation

Upgrade VMware Fusion to version 13.6 or later to remediate the insecure environment variable vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

13.6

  1. Verify current VMware Fusion version by navigating to VMware Fusion > About VMware Fusion
  2. If running version 13.0.0 through 13.5.x, download VMware Fusion 13.6 from the Broadcom support portal at support.broadcom.com
  3. Quit VMware Fusion if it is currently running
  4. Install VMware Fusion 13.6 by opening the downloaded installer and following the on-screen instructions
  5. After installation, launch VMware Fusion and verify the version shows 13.6

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

Fix this in Fusion Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,390
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,224.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2024-38811 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