Cloud FoundationApplication · VMware
CVE-2025-41231
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 Cloud Foundation contains a missing authorisation vulnerability. A malicious actor with access to VMware Cloud Foundation appliance may be able to perform certain unauthorised actions and access limited sensitive information.
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 Cloud Foundation contains a missing authorisation vulnerability where an attacker with access to the appliance can bypass authorization checks to perform certain unauthorized administrative actions and access limited sensitive information. This is a broken access control vulnerability where the application fails to properly validate user permissions before allowing specific operations.
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
>= 4.5, < 4.5.2>= 5.0, < 5.2.1.2CVSS 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
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/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.
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Determine VMware Cloud Foundation versionLog into the VMware Cloud Foundation UI or use the API endpoint /api/v1/system/version to retrieve the installed version. Alternatively, run 'vcf-verify -v' from the appliance command line.Affected if The installed version falls within the affected ranges: >= 4.5 and < 4.5.2, or >= 5.0 and < 5.2.1.2.
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Confirm appliance access is possibleVerify that network access to the VMware Cloud Foundation appliance management interface (port 443/8443) is reachable. Check if SSH access to the appliance is enabled.Affected if The appliance is network-accessible to an attacker who could then exploit the missing authorization flaw.
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Review administrative audit logsExamine the VMware Cloud Foundation audit logs in the UI under Administration > Audit Logs, or retrieve logs via the API at /api/v1/audit-logs. Look for administrative actions performed by accounts that should not have those permissions.Affected if Audit logs show administrative actions or information access that was performed without proper authorization checks.
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Check for unauthorized user sessionsReview active user sessions in the VMware Cloud Foundation UI under Administration > Users & Groups > Sessions. Verify that all sessions correspond to legitimate administrators.Affected if Unexpected sessions exist or sessions are associated with accounts lacking the required permissions for actions performed.
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Inspect role assignments for anomaliesNavigate to Administration > Users & Groups > Roles in the UI, or query /api/v1/roles/assignments via API. Verify that role bindings are correct and no unexpected privilege escalations have occurred.Affected if Users possess roles or permissions that exceed what they should have, indicating the authorization bypass may have been exploited.
You are affected if your VMware Cloud Foundation version is 4.5.x before 4.5.2 or 5.0.x through 5.2.x before 5.2.1.2, and the appliance is accessible to an attacker who could bypass authorization checks.
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.
dbcve · scoped4.5.25.2.1.2
Apply the vendor-provided security patch for CVE-2025-41231 to VMware Cloud Foundation. Until patches are available, limit appliance access to trusted administrators only and monitor for suspicious administrative actions.
VMware Cloud Foundation 4.5.2 (or later 4.x) or 5.2.1.2 (or later 5.x)
- Obtain the VMware Cloud Foundation upgrade bundle from Broadcom support portal (support.broadcom.com)
- Review the VMware Cloud Foundation upgrade guide for your current version
- Backup the current Cloud Foundation environment including all configurations
- Schedule a maintenance window for the upgrade
- Upload the upgrade bundle to the Cloud Foundation appliance
- Run the upgrade procedure following VMware's documented upgrade path
- Verify the upgrade completed successfully by checking the version in the administration interface
- Confirm the vulnerability is resolved by verifying the running version is 4.5.2+ or 5.2.1.2+
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Cloud Foundation
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation24.0 h
- Testing16.0 h
- Review / QA8.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $15,616.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-41231 — 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-2025-41231 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
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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