Privilege escalation in VMware Workstation

1) Out-of-bounds write

EUVDB-ID: #VU70156

Risk: Medium

CVSSv3.1: 7.9 [CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C]

CVE-ID: CVE-2022-31705

CWE-ID: CWE-787 - Out-of-bounds write

Exploit availability: Yes

Description

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

The vulnerability exists due to a boundary error within the USB 2.0 controller (EHCI). A local privileged user on the guest OS can trigger an out-of-bounds write and execute arbitrary code as the virtual machine's VMX process running on the host.

Mitigation

Install update from vendor's website.

Note, exploitation of this vulnerability can lead to the host OS compromise, which is hosting VMWare Workstation.

Vulnerable software versions

VMware Workstation: 16.0 - 16.2.4

External links

http://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2022-0033.html

Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

Yes. This vulnerability can be exploited by a remote authenticated privileged user via the Internet.

How the attacker can exploit this vulnerability?

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

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.