dbcve.org
OS Command InjectionWeakness · CWE-78

CVE-2025-41225

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-05-20
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
90/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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 an authenticated command-execution vulnerability. A malicious actor with privileges to create or modify alarms and run script action may exploit this issue to run arbitrary commands on the vCenter Server.

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

vCenter Server contains an authenticated command-execution vulnerability where a malicious actor with privileges to create or modify alarms and run script actions can exploit this to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying vCenter Server operating system.

MitigationApply the official VMware patch for CVE-2025-41225. Until patched, strictly limit and audit user privileges for alarm creation/modification and script action capabilities.

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/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 vCenter Server version
    Log into the vCenter Server Admin UI (or use vSphere Client) and navigate to System Configuration > Services > vCenter Server, or run 'vpxd -v' via the vCenter Shell to retrieve the exact version number
    Affected if The installed version has not been patched for CVE-2025-41225 (compare against VMware's official advisory for your major version line)
  2. Audit user roles with alarm privileges
    In vSphere Client, go to Access Control > Roles and review all roles that include 'Alarm' permissions (Create Alarm, Modify Alarm, Alarm Action). Then map these roles to users/groups in Global Permissions
    Affected if Users or groups exist who have both Create/Modify Alarm permissions AND are otherwise highly privileged, increasing exploitation risk
  3. Review existing alarms with script actions
    In vSphere Client, browse to Hosts and Clusters or VMs, select an object, go to Alerts > Alarm Definitions, and for each custom alarm, verify if 'Run a script' action is enabled. Alternatively, use PowerCLI: Get-AlarmDefinition | Get-AlarmAction | Where-Object {$_.ActionType -eq 'RunScript'}
    Affected if Any alarm definitions contain script action configurations, especially those created by non-administrator accounts
  4. Check alarm script action configuration
    Examine the script content in any alarms with script actions. In vSphere Client, edit the alarm > Actions tab > locate 'Run a script' and inspect the defined command/script
    Affected if Scripts contain unexpected, suspicious, or Base64-encoded commands not related to legitimate monitoring
  5. Verify privilege assignment for alarm script execution
    In vSphere Client, go to Hosts and Clusters, select a VM or host, click the Permissions tab, and check which users have roles allowing both alarm modification and script execution capabilities
    Affected if Non-admin users have been granted permissions that enable both alarm modification and script action capabilities

A defender is affected if their vCenter Server version is unpatched AND any user account has privileges to create/modify alarms with script action capabilities, particularly if such alarms already exist in the environment.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the official VMware patch for CVE-2025-41225. Until patched, strictly limit and audit user privileges for alarm creation/modification and script action capabilities.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-41225 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2025-41225 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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.

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