HGFS.sys in the VMware Tools package in VMware Workstation 5.x before 5.5.6 build 80404, VMware Player before 1.0.6 build 80404, VMware ACE before 1.0.5 build 79846, VMware Server before 1.0.5 build 80187, and VMware ESX 2.5.4 through 3.0.2 does not properly validate arguments in user-mode METHOD_NEITHER IOCTLs to the \\.\hgfs device, which allows guest OS users to modify arbitrary memory locations in guest kernel memory and gain privileges.

The remote host is affected by the vulnerability described in GLSA-201209-25 (VMware Player, Server, Workstation: Multiple vulnerabilities)

    Multiple vulnerabilities have been discovered in VMware Player, Server,       and Workstation. Please review the CVE identifiers referenced below for       details.
  Impact :

    Local users may be able to gain escalated privileges, cause a Denial of       Service, or gain sensitive information.
    A remote attacker could entice a user to open a specially crafted file,       possibly resulting in the remote execution of arbitrary code, or a Denial       of Service. Remote attackers also may be able to spoof DNS traffic, read       arbitrary files, or inject arbitrary web script to the VMware Server       Console.
    Furthermore, guest OS users may be able to execute arbitrary code on the       host OS, gain escalated privileges on the guest OS, or cause a Denial of       Service (crash the host OS).
  Workaround :

    There is no known workaround at this time.

a. VMware Tools Local Privilege Escalation on Windows-based guest OS

   The VMware Tools Package provides support required for shared folders    (HGFS) and other features.

   An input validation error is present in the Windows-based VMware    HGFS.sys driver.   Exploitation of this flaw might result in    arbitrary code execution on the guest system by an unprivileged    guest user.  It doesn't matter on what host the Windows guest OS    is running, as this is a guest driver vulnerability and not a    vulnerability on the host.

   The HGFS.sys driver is present in the guest operating system if the    VMware Tools package is loaded.  Even if the host has HGFS disabled    and has no shared folders, Windows-based guests may be affected. This    is regardless if a host supports HGFS.

   This issue could be mitigated by removing the VMware Tools package    from Windows based guests.  However this is not recommended as it    would impact usability of the product.

   NOTE: Installing the new hosted release or ESX patches will not          remediate the issue.  The VMware Tools packages will need          to be updated on each Windows-based guest followed by a          reboot of the guest system.

   VMware would like to thank iDefense and Stephen Fewer of Harmony    Security for reporting this issue to us.

   The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org)    has assigned the name CVE-2007-5671 to this issue.

b. Privilege escalation on ESX or Linux based hosted operating systems

   This update fixes a security issue related to local exploitation of    an untrusted library path vulnerability in vmware-authd. In order to    exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must have local access and    the ability to execute the set-uid vmware-authd binary on an affected    system. Exploitation of this flaw might result in arbitrary code    execution on the Linux host system by an unprivileged user.

   VMware would like to thank iDefense for reporting this issue to us.

   The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org)    has assigned the name CVE-2008-0967 to this issue.

c. Openwsman Invalid Content-Length Vulnerability

   Openwsman is a system management platform that implements the Web    Services Management protocol (WS-Management). It is installed and    running by default. It is used in the VMware Management Service    Console and in ESXi.

   The openwsman management service on ESX 3.5 and ESXi 3.5 is vulnerable    to a privilege escalation vulnerability, which may allow users with    non-privileged ESX or Virtual Center accounts to gain root privileges.

   To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would need a local ESX    account or a VirtualCenter account with the Host.Cim.CimInteraction    permission.

   Systems with no local ESX accounts and no VirtualCenter accounts with    the Host.Cim.CimInteraction permission are not vulnerable.

   This vulnerability cannot be exploited by users without valid login    credentials.

   Discovery: Alexander Sotirov, VMware Security Research

   The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org)    has assigned the name CVE-2008-2097 to this issue.

d. VMware VIX Application Programming Interface (API) Memory Overflow    Vulnerabilities

   The VIX API (also known as 'Vix') is an API that lets users write scripts    and programs to manipulate virtual machines.

   Multiple buffer overflow vulnerabilities are present in the VIX API.
   Exploitation of these vulnerabilities might result in a privilege    escalation on the host system. This exploit scenario is relevant for all    affected products. On VC, ESX30x, and ESX35, users need to have the VM    Interaction Privilege in order to exploit the vulnerability.

   Exploitation of these vulnerabilities might also result in code execution on    the host system from the guest system or on the service console in ESX Server    from the guest operating system. This exploit scenario is relevant for    Workstation 6.0.x (version 6.0.3 and below), Player 2.0.x (version 2.0.3 and    below), ACE 2.0.x (version 2.0.3 and below), Server 1.0.x (version 1.0.5 and    below), and ESX3.5. The parameter 'vix.inGuest.enable' in the VMware    configuration file must be set to true to allow for exploitation on these    products. Note that the parameter 'vix-inGuest.enable' is set to false by    default.

   The parameter 'vix.inGuest.enable' is present in the    following products :

     VMware Workstation 6.0.2 and higher      VMware ACE 6.0.2 and higher      VMware Server 1.06 and higher      VMware Fusion 1.1.2 and higher      ESX Server 3.0 and higher      ESX Server 3.5 and higher

   In previous versions of VMware products where the VIX API was introduced,    the VIX API couldn't be disabled.

   This vulnerability is present in ESX and the hosted products even if you    have not installed the VIX API. To patch your system you will need to    update to the new hosted product version or to apply the appropriate ESX    patch. It is not necessary to update the VIX API if you have installed    the VIX API.

   VMware would like to thank Andrew Honig of the Department of    Defense for reporting this issue.

   The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org)    has assigned the name CVE-2008-2100 to this issue.

II Service Console rpm updates

 NOTE: ESXi and hosted products are not affected by any service console        security updates

 a. Security update for cyrus-sasl

   Updated cyrus-sasl package for the ESX Service Console corrects a security    issue found in the DIGEST-MD5 authentication mechanism of Cyrus'    implementation of Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL). As a    result of this issue in the authentication mechanism, a remote    unauthenticated attacker might be able to cause a denial of service error    on the service console.

   The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has    assigned the name CVE-2006-1721 to this issue.

 b. Security update for tcltk

   An input validation flaw was discovered in Tk's GIF image handling. A    code-size value read from a GIF image was not properly validated before    being used, leading to a buffer overflow. A specially crafted GIF file    could use this to cause a crash or, potentially, execute code with the    privileges of the application using the Tk graphical toolkit.

   The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has    assigned the name CVE-2008-0553 to this issue.

   A buffer overflow flaw was discovered in Tk's animated GIF image handling.
   An animated GIF containing an initial image smaller than subsequent images    could cause a crash or, potentially, execute code with the privileges of    the application using the Tk library.

   The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has    assigned the name CVE-2007-5378 to this issue.

   A flaw first discovered in the Tcl regular expression engine used in the    PostgreSQL database server, resulted in an infinite loop when processing    certain regular expressions.

   The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has    assigned the name CVE-2007-4772 to this issue.

 c. Security update for unzip

   This patch includes a moderate security update to the service console that    fixes a flaw in unzip. An attacker could execute malicious code with a    user's privileges if the user ran unzip on a file designed to leverage    this flaw.

   The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has    assigned the name CVE-2008-0888 to this issue.

 d. Security update for krb5

   KDC in MIT Kerberos 5 (krb5kdc) does not set a global variable    for some krb4 message types, which allows remote attackers to    cause a denial of service (crash) and possibly execute arbitrary    code via crafted messages that trigger a NULL pointer dereference    or double-free.

   The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org)    has assigned the name CVE-2008-0062 to this issue.

   NOTE: ESX doesn't contain the krb5kdc binary and is not vulnerable          to this issue.

   The Kerberos 4 support in KDC in MIT Kerberos 5 (krb5kdc) does not    properly clear the unused portion of a buffer when generating an    error message, which might allow remote attackers to obtain    sensitive information, aka 'Uninitialized stack values.'

   The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org)    has assigned the name CVE-2008-0063 to this issue.

   NOTE: ESX doesn't contain the krb5kdc binary and is not vulnerable          to this issue.

   Buffer overflow in the RPC library (lib/rpc/rpc_dtablesize.c) used    by libgssrpc and kadmind in MIT Kerberos 5 (krb5) 1.2.2, and probably    other versions before 1.3, when running on systems whose unistd.h    does not define the FD_SETSIZE macro, allows remote attackers to cause    a denial of service (crash) and possibly execute arbitrary code by    triggering a large number of open file descriptors.

   The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org)    has assigned the name CVE-2008-0948 to this issue.

A VMware product installed on the remote host is affected by multiple vulnerabilities.

  - A local privilege escalation issue in 'HGFS.sys' driver     included with the VMware Tools package, could allow an     unprivileged guest user to execute arbitrary code on the     guest system. It should be noted that installing the new     releases of the affected product will not resolve the     issue. In order to successfully apply this patch VMware     Tools package should be updated on each Windows based     guest followed by a reboot of the guest system.
    (CVE-2007-5671)

  - Multiple buffer overflow vulnerabilities in VMware VIX     API, which is disabled by default, could allow arbitrary     code execution on the host system from the guest     operating system. (CVE-2008-2100)

ID	Name	Product	Family	Type	Severity
62383	GLSA-201209-25 : VMware Player, Server, Workstation: Multiple vulnerabilities	Nessus	Gentoo Local Security Checks	Local	medium
40378	VMSA-2008-0009 : Updates to VMware Workstation, VMware Player, VMware ACE, VMware Fusion, VMware Server, VMware VIX API, VMware ESX, VMware ESXi resolve critical security issues	Nessus	VMware ESX Local Security Checks	Local	high
33105	VMware Products Multiple Vulnerabilities (VMSA-2008-0009)	Nessus	Windows	Local	high

Detections

Analytics

CVE-2007-5671

high

Tenable Plugins

medium

high

high