Privilege escalation in VMware Fusion

1) Permissions, Privileges, and Access Controls

EUVDB-ID: #VU46759

Risk: Low

CVSSv3.1: 6.3 [CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:P/RL:U/RC:C]

CVE-ID: CVE-2020-3980

CWE-ID: CWE-264 - Permissions, Privileges, and Access Controls

Exploit availability: Yes

Description

The vulnerability allows a local user to escalate privileges on the system.

The vulnerability exists due to the way the affected software allows configuring the system wide path. A local user can trick an admin user into executing malicious code on the system where Fusion is installed.

Mitigation

Cybersecurity Help is currently unaware of any official solution to address this vulnerability.

Vulnerable software versions

VMware Fusion: 11.0.0 - 11.5.5

External links

http://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2020-0020.html

Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

No. This vulnerability can be exploited locally. The attacker should have authentication credentials and successfully authenticate on the system.

How the attacker can exploit this vulnerability?

The attacker would have to trick the victim to open a a specially crafted file.

The attacker would have to login to the system and perform certain actions in order to exploit this vulnerability.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability. However, proof of concept for this vulnerability is available.