CVE-2024-38818
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 · uneditedVMware NSX contains a local privilege escalation vulnerability. An authenticated malicious actor may exploit this vulnerability to obtain permissions from a separate group role than previously assigned.
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 confidenceVMware NSX contains a local privilege escalation vulnerability where an authenticated attacker can obtain permissions from a group role different from their originally assigned role. This allows a user to gain elevated privileges beyond their intended access level within the NSX management plane.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
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
- High
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Confirm NSX installationCheck if VMware NSX is deployed in your environment. This may be through inventory systems, VM tags, or documentation of your network security infrastructure.Affected if NSX is installed and active in the environment
-
Identify NSX versionAccess the NSX Manager UI or use the NSX API (GET /api/v1/global-config) to retrieve the installed NSX version number. Compare against VMware security advisories for CVE-2024-38818.Affected if Installed version matches the affected version range listed in VMware's official advisory for this CVE
-
Review assigned user rolesIn NSX Manager, navigate to System > Users and Roles > Role Assignments, or query via API: GET /api/v1/aaa/role-bindings. Examine each user's assigned role type (for example: Enterprise Admin, Auditor, Support User).Affected if User accounts exist with roles that could be exploited for privilege escalation beyond their intended permissions
-
Check for role permission anomaliesQuery user role bindings and compare the actual permissions against expected baseline permissions for each role. Look for unexpected permission expansions or duplicate role bindings across different groups.Affected if Any user account has permissions inconsistent with their documented or intended role assignment
-
Audit recent role assignment changesReview NSX audit logs (System > Audit Logs) or system events for recent changes to role-bindings endpoint (/api/v1/aaa/role-bindings). Look for unauthorized or unexpected modifications.Affected if Suspicious or unauthorized changes to role assignments are present in logs
A user is affected if NSX is installed and the installed version falls within the affected version range per VMware's advisory, especially if there are any anomalies in role assignments.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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.
From vendor dataApply VMware security patches when available. Review and enforce strict role-based access controls, audit existing user role assignments, and monitor for unauthorized privilege changes.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $9,088.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-38818 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2024-38818 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
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.
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.
- 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