CVE-2025-22226: VMware ESXi, Workstation, and Fusion Information Disclosure Vulnerability
VMware · ESXi, Workstation, and Fusion · NVD published 2025-03-04 · posted 2025-03-04 · last modified 2026-06-17
What it is
VMware ESXi, Workstation, and Fusion contain an information disclosure vulnerability due to an out-of-bounds read in HGFS. A malicious actor with administrative privileges to a virtual machine may be able to exploit this issue to leak memory from the vmx process.
| Weakness | CWE-125 |
|---|---|
| CVSS vector | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N (source: [email protected]) |
| CISA due date | 2025-03-25 (for US federal agencies under BOD; a good deadline for everyone) |
| ATT&CK tactics | Privilege Escalation → Collection |
Exploitation evidence
First exploit evidence seen: 2025-03-04 (earliest date across the sources below).
Exploited in the wild
- CISA KEV: listed since 2025-03-04. Source
Sources: CISA KEV.
Defend the Chain
The attack chain for CVE-2025-22226 laid across the MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise tactics. Solid cards come from the MITRE CTID KEV mappings; dashed cards are inferred by CVERadar from the CWE or description. Correct defences are real ATT&CK mitigations for that technique.
Pick a red technique card on the board, then choose the defence that stops it.
Defend against T1611 Escape to Host CTID: secondary impact
This vulnerability, present in VMWare ESXi, Workstation, and Fusion, is the result of an out-of-bounds read in the Host Guest File System (HGFS) and can be exploited by attackers with administrative privileges to disclose sensitive information from the VMX process. An attacker could then move into the hypervisor itself.
How to fix it
CISA required action
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable. (source: CISA KEV)
Fixed versions
- vmware fusion: upgrade to 13.6.3 or later (affected from 13.0.0)
- vmware workstation: upgrade to 17.6.3 or later (affected from 17.0)
Derived from the NVD CPE configuration (versionEndExcluding / versionEndIncluding). Always confirm with the vendor advisory.
Vendor advisories and patches
- https://support.broadcom.com/web/ecx/support-content-notification/-/external/content/SecurityAdvisories/0/25390 (CISA KEV notes)
MITRE ATT&CK mitigations for this chain
- M1051 Update Software (for T1611) : Ensure that hosts are kept up-to-date with security patches.
- M1038 Execution Prevention (for T1611) : Use read-only containers, read-only file systems, and minimal images when possible to prevent the running of commands. Where possible, also consider using application control and software restriction tools (such as those provided by SELinux) to restrict access to files, processes, and system calls in containers.
- M1048 Application Isolation and Sandboxing (for T1611) : Consider utilizing seccomp, seccomp-bpf, or a similar solution that restricts certain system calls such as mount. In Kubernetes environments, consider defining Pod Security Standards that limit container access to host process namespaces, the host network, and the host file system.
- M1026 Privileged Account Management (for T1611) : Ensure containers are not running as root by default and do not use unnecessary privileges or mounted components. In Kubernetes environments, consider defining Pod Security Standards that prevent pods from running privileged containers.
- M1042 Disable or Remove Feature or Program (for T1611) : Remove unnecessary tools and software from containers.
- M1057 Data Loss Prevention (for T1005) : Data loss prevention can restrict access to sensitive data and detect sensitive data that is unencrypted.
Detection Generic guidance
- Privilege Escalation: Alert on processes gaining SYSTEM/root unexpectedly, and on exploitation crashes of privileged services.
- Collection: Watch for bulk reads of databases, file shares or mailboxes by the affected service.
Response checklist Generic guidance
- Inventory: find every instance of the affected product and version (include internet-facing and forgotten ones).
- Patch or mitigate per the vendor advisory; if you cannot patch, remove internet exposure or apply the vendor workaround.
- Assume compromise if the system was exposed before patching: hunt for the indicators in the advisory and review logs back to the disclosure date.
- Rotate credentials and secrets stored on or used by the affected system if compromise cannot be ruled out.