EsxiOperating system · VMware

CVE-2025-22224

HIGH · 8.2 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-03-04

Fix available

A fix is available. Upgrade to 17.6.3 or later.

See remediation →

96/100

Remediation priority · Urgent

In the wild Zero-click

Official description

NVD · unedited

VMware ESXi, and Workstation contain a TOCTOU (Time-of-Check Time-of-Use) vulnerability that leads to an out-of-bounds write. A malicious actor with local administrative privileges on a virtual machine may exploit this issue to execute code as the virtual machine's VMX process running on the host.

Technical summary

dbcve analysis · high confidence

VMware ESXi and Workstation contain a TOCTOU (Time-of-Check Time-of-Use) vulnerability that leads to an out-of-bounds write. A malicious actor with local administrative privileges on a virtual machine may exploit this issue to execute code as the virtual machine's VMX process running on the host, achieving privilege escalation from guest VM to host hypervisor process.

MitigationApply VMware security patches for CVE-2025-22224 as soon as practicable. Limit local administrative privileges on VMs and minimize the attack surface of the virtualized environment.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions

NVD · CPE data

EsxiOperating system

Affected:= 7.0= 8.0

Cloud FoundationApplication

Affected:all versions

Telco Cloud InfrastructureApplication

Affected:= 2.2= 2.5= 2.7= 3.0

Telco Cloud PlatformApplication

Affected:= 2.0= 2.5= 2.7= 3.0= 4.0= 4.0.1= 5.0

WorkstationApplication

Affected:>= 17.0, < 17.6.3

CVSS breakdown

From the vector

Attack vector: Local
Complexity: Low
Privileges: High
User interaction: None
Scope: Changed
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: High
Availability: High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected?

dbcve checks

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

Identify the installed VMware product

For ESXi, run 'vmware -v' on the host or check the vSphere Client login screen. For Workstation, run 'vmware -v' or open Help > About VMware Workstation.

Affected if The product is ESXi, Workstation, Cloud Foundation, Telco Cloud Infrastructure, or Telco Cloud Platform.
Determine the exact version number

For ESXi: run 'esxcli system version get' or check the vSphere Host Client. For Workstation: check Help > About or run 'vmware -v'. For Cloud Foundation: check the SDDC Manager console.

Affected if Version is not yet identified for comparison to affected ranges.
Compare installed version to affected ranges

Check if ESXi version is 7.0.x or 8.0.x; if Workstation version is >= 17.0.0 and < 17.6.3; if Telco Cloud Infrastructure is 2.2, 2.5, 2.7, or 3.0; if Telco Cloud Platform is 2.0, 2.5, 2.7, 3.0, 4.0, 4.0.1, or 5.0; or if Cloud Foundation is any version.

Affected if The installed version falls within any of the listed affected ranges.
Verify presence of virtual machines with local administrative access

Review which users or groups have local administrative privileges (root or Administrator) on any virtual machine running on the ESXi host or Workstation instance.

Affected if There are VMs where non-trusted users have local admin rights, as this vulnerability requires local administrative privileges on a VM to exploit.

Your environment is affected if you run any affected version of ESXi, Workstation, Cloud Foundation, Telco Cloud Infrastructure, or Telco Cloud Platform AND you have virtual machines where users possess local administrative privileges that could trigger the race condition.

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

Remediation

dbcve · scoped

Upgrade available Upgrade to 17.6.3 or later

Fixed in 17.6.3

Interim mitigation

Apply VMware security patches for CVE-2025-22224 as soon as practicable. Limit local administrative privileges on VMs and minimize the attack surface of the virtualized environment.

Recommended fix High confidence

ESXi 7.0 to latest 7.0 Update; ESXi 8.0 to latest 8.0 Update; Workstation to 17.6.3 or later; Cloud Foundation/Telco products to vendor-supported versions with security patches

1. Identify the specific product from the affected list (ESXi, Workstation, Cloud Foundation, Telco Cloud Infrastructure, or Telco Cloud Platform)
2. For VMware Workstation: Upgrade to version 17.6.3 or later by downloading from support.broadcom.com
3. For VMware ESXi 7.0: Apply security patches or upgrade to ESXi 7.0 Update 3 with the latest patch bundle
4. For VMware ESXi 8.0: Apply security patches or upgrade to ESXi 8.0 Update 3 with the latest patch bundle
5. For Cloud Foundation: Update to the latest version that includes the ESXi security patches
6. For Telco Cloud Infrastructure versions 2.2, 2.5, 2.7, 3.0: Apply vendor-supplied patches or upgrade to a supported version
7. For Telco Cloud Platform versions 2.0, 2.5, 2.7, 3.0: Apply vendor-supplied patches or upgrade to a supported version
8. Verify the fix by confirming the installed version contains the CVE-2025-22224 remediation

Caveat Upgrading ESXi may require VM downtime and compatibility verification of VM hardware version; upgrading Workstation may require accepting new EULA and has minor UI changes

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

Fix this in Esxi Exploited in the wild — priority engagement

Consultation6.0 h
Implementation4.0 h
Testing12.0 h
Review / QA6.0 h

28.0 hours of engineering $4,800

Get it fixed fast

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $7,680.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally

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References

Primary sources

support.broadcom.comVendor Advisory
www.cisa.govUS Government Resource
nvd.nist.govNVD record

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-22224 in production — separate from our analysis above.

Notes0 Guidelines

Know something about CVE-2025-22224?

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

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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

At a glance

Exploited in the wildOn CISA’s known-exploited list · agencies must fix by 2025-03-25

A fix existsUpgrade to 17.6.3 or later

Severity 8.2 High

Exploit likelihood EPSS, next 30 days 1.6%

Affects: Esxi

Remediation

Being exploited — close it fast

Fix this in Esxi 28 hrs · Moderate

Typical engagement from $4,800

Get it fixed fast See the full breakdown ↓

This CVE is on CISA’s actively-exploited list, so the clock is real — a vetted specialist can deliver a reviewed fix for your staging environment quickly.

You’ll deal with our team directly and deploy the reviewed fix to staging first — never straight to production.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Check your environment

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.

Scan for this in your stack

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Practitioner notes

No notes yet

Official description

Technical summary

Affected products & versions

CVSS breakdown

Am I affected?

Remediation

References