VMware’s March 5, 2024 security advisory, VMSA-2024-0006, addressed four vulnerabilities in ESXi, Workstation, Fusion and Cloud Foundation. The most serious, CVE-2024-22252 and CVE-2024-22253, affect virtual USB controllers and can let an attacker with local administrator privileges inside a guest VM execute code as the host’s VMX process. VMware rated the advisory Critical, with a maximum CVSS score of 9.3.
What the ESXi sandbox escape means
A guest virtual machine normally isolates its workloads from the host. These flaws affect the XHCI and UHCI virtual USB controllers: an attacker who already has local administrator privileges inside a guest can exploit the controller issues to execute code as the VMX process, which runs on the host.
The impact differs by product. VMware’s advisory, as reproduced by SecurityWeek, says: “On ESXi, the exploitation is contained within the VMX sandbox whereas, on Workstation and Fusion, this may lead to code execution on the machine where Workstation or Fusion is installed.” Sandbox containment on ESXi is not the same as saying the vulnerability is harmless; it describes the boundary VMware says exploitation reaches on that product.
Which products and vulnerabilities are involved?
VMSA-2024-0006 covers four vulnerabilities across ESXi, Workstation, Fusion and Cloud Foundation. CVE-2024-22252 and CVE-2024-22253 are use-after-free memory-corruption flaws in the XHCI and UHCI virtual USB controllers. The advisory’s maximum CVSS score is 9.3; that is the maximum for the advisory, not a score assigned here to each CVE.
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The two related ESXi vulnerabilities are CVE-2024-22254, an out-of-bounds-write flaw, and CVE-2024-22255, an information-disclosure flaw in the UHCI controller.
How the impact differs by product
| Product | Attacker access required | Reported impact | Temporary configuration workaround |
|---|---|---|---|
| ESXi | Local administrator privileges inside a guest VM | Code execution as the host VMX process, contained within the VMX sandbox | Remove USB controllers from affected virtual machines |
| Workstation and Fusion | Local administrator privileges inside a guest VM | May lead to code execution on the machine where the product is installed | Remove USB controllers from affected virtual machines |
The workaround is recorded in the government advisory. The material available for this advisory does not establish a separate host-impact description for Cloud Foundation, so the ESXi sandbox statement should not be generalized to every product named in VMSA-2024-0006.
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How to mitigate the VMware USB vulnerabilities
- Identify affected deployments. Check whether your environment uses ESXi, Workstation, Fusion or Cloud Foundation covered by VMSA-2024-0006, and review the vendor advisory for the affected and fixed product versions.
- Install the vendor fix. Update to the fixed version listed for your product in Broadcom’s VMSA-2024-0006 response matrix. The exact fixed versions are product-specific; use that matrix rather than assuming one version number applies across products.
- If you cannot update immediately, remove virtual USB controllers. Apply this temporary workaround to affected virtual machines, as recorded in the government advisory. It reduces exposure to the controller flaws but is not a substitute for installing the vendor fix.
No hardware purchase substitutes for the software fix. Administrators should also account for the practical effect of removing a virtual USB controller on any guest that depends on USB devices.
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