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CVE-2023-34048

critical

Description

vCenter Server contains an out-of-bounds write vulnerability in the implementation of the DCERPC protocol. A malicious actor with network access to vCenter Server may trigger an out-of-bounds write potentially leading to remote code execution.

References

https://www.trendmicro.com/en_us/research/25/g/revisiting-unc3886-tactics-to-defend-against-present-risk.html

https://securityaffairs.com/180451/hacking/china-linked-group-fire-ant-exploits-vmware-and-f5-flaws-since-early-2025.html

https://www.securityweek.com/chinese-spies-target-networking-and-virtualization-flaws-to-breach-isolated-environments/

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/chinese-espionage-targets-vmware/

https://www.darkreading.com/vulnerabilities-threats/fire-ant-cyber-spies-siloed-vmware-systems

https://thehackernews.com/2025/07/fire-ant-exploits-vmware-flaw-to.html

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/broadcom-warns-of-authentication-bypass-in-vmware-windows-tools/

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/broadcom-fixes-three-vmware-zero-days-exploited-in-attacks/

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/critical-rce-bug-in-vmware-vcenter-server-now-exploited-in-attacks/

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/vmware-fixes-bad-patch-for-critical-vcenter-server-rce-flaw/

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/broadcom-fixes-critical-rce-bug-in-vmware-vcenter-server/

https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/uncovering-unc3886-espionage-operations

https://storage.googleapis.com/gweb-uniblog-publish-prod/documents/Year_in_Review_of_ZeroDays.pdf

https://meterpreter.org/cve-2023-34048-inside-the-zero-day-vulnerability-exploited-by-unc3886/

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/vmware-confirms-critical-vcenter-flaw-now-exploited-in-attacks/

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/chinese-hackers-exploit-vmware-bug-as-zero-day-for-two-years/

https://www.theregister.com/2023/10/25/vmware_vcenter_critical_flaw/

https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2023-0023.html

Details

Source: Mitre, NVD

Published: 2023-10-25

Updated: 2024-12-20

Known Exploited Vulnerability (KEV)

Risk Information

CVSS v2

Base Score: 10

Vector: CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Severity: Critical

CVSS v3

Base Score: 9.8

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Severity: Critical

EPSS

EPSS: 0.92017

Vulnerability Watch

Tenable Research has classified this CVE under the following Vulnerability Watch classification, which includes active and historical (inactive) classifications. You can learn more about these classifications on our blog.

Vulnerability of Interest