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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 11 Dec 2024.
Cloud FoundationApplication · VMware

CVE-2024-38812

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-09-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.2 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild High EPSS Remotely reachable No privileges 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
The 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

vCenter Server contains a heap-overflow vulnerability in its DCERPC protocol implementation. An attacker with network access can send a specially crafted packet to trigger the overflow, potentially achieving remote code execution.

MitigationRestrict network access to vCenter Server to trusted networks only; apply VMware security patches when released; implement network segmentation to minimize attack surface.

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:= 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

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 VMware product
    Run 'vpxd -v' or check the vCenter Server Appliance management interface for the product name and version string
    Affected if The product is VMware vCenter Server version 7.0 or 8.0, or VMware Cloud Foundation version 4.0 through 5.1.x
  2. Verify the exact version number
    Check the vCenter Server or Cloud Foundation build number against VMware's official version documentation
    Affected if The version is exactly 7.0 (any build), exactly 8.0 (any build), or falls between 4.0 and 5.1.x inclusive
  3. Confirm DCERPC service is accessible
    Attempt to reach the DCERPC endpoint on the vCenter Server (typically port 135 or dynamic RPC ports). Use 'rpcinfo' or network scanning tools to probe for DCERPC response
    Affected if The DCERPC service responds to network queries, which is the default configuration for vCenter Server
  4. Assess network exposure of vCenter Server
    Review firewall rules, NAT configurations, and ACLs to determine if the vCenter management interfaces are reachable from untrusted networks
    Affected if vCenter Server management interfaces (ports 443, 22, 135, etc.) are accessible from networks outside the trusted administrative zone

You are affected if your vCenter Server is version 7.0 or 8.0 (or Cloud Foundation between 4.0 and 5.1.x) AND the DCERPC service is network-accessible, especially from untrusted networks.

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
Interim mitigation

Restrict network access to vCenter Server to trusted networks only; apply VMware security patches when released; implement network segmentation to minimize attack surface.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

vCenter Server 7.0 to 7.0 U3o+ | vCenter Server 8.0 to 8.0 U2d+ | Cloud Foundation to 5.2+

  1. 1. Back up the vCenter Server/Cloud Foundation environment before applying any updates.
  2. 2. Download the latest vCenter Server patch from the Broadcom Support Portal (support.broadcom.com).
  3. 3. For vCenter Server 7.0: Upgrade to version 7.0 U3o or later patch release.
  4. 4. For vCenter Server 8.0: Upgrade to version 8.0 U2d or later patch release.
  5. 5. For Cloud Foundation: Upgrade to version 5.2 or later.
  6. 6. Apply the upgrade following VMware's standard upgrade procedures.
  7. 7. After upgrade, verify the vCenter Server services are running correctly.
  8. 8. Confirm the vulnerability is resolved by checking the installed version matches the fixed release.
Caveat Upgrading vCenter Server may require downtime; test in staging environment first and review VMware upgrade documentation for compatibility requirements

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
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
36.0 hours of engineering $6,400
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $10,240.

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-2024-38812 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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