VMware Fusion 25H2 < 26H1 Local Privilege Escalation (VMSA-2026-0003)

high Nessus Plugin ID 315231

Synopsis

A virtualization application installed on the remote macOS host is affected by a local privilege escalation vulnerability.

Description

The version of VMware Fusion installed on the remote macOS host is 25H2 prior to 26H1. It is, therefore, affected by a vulnerability:

- VMware Fusion contains a TOCTOU (Time-of-check Time-of-use) vulnerability that occurs during an operation performed by a SETUID binary. A malicious actor with local non-administrative user privileges may exploit this vulnerability to escalate privileges to root on the system where Fusion is installed. (CVE-2026-41702)

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

Solution

Update to VMware Fusion version 26H1 (26.0.0) or later.

See Also

http://www.nessus.org/u?9a304695

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 315231

File Name: macosx_fusion_vmsa_2026_0003.nasl

Version: 1.3

Type: Local

Agent: macosx

Published: 5/19/2026

Updated: 5/22/2026

Supported Sensors: Frictionless Assessment Agent, Nessus Agent, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: High

Score: 8.4

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 6

Temporal Score: 4.4

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

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2026-41702

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7

Temporal Score: 6.1

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

Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:O/RC:C

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/a:vmware:fusion

Required KB Items: Host/local_checks_enabled, installed_sw/VMware Fusion

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Patch Publication Date: 5/14/2026

Vulnerability Publication Date: 5/14/2026

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2026-41702

IAVA: 2026-A-0487

VMSA: 2026-0003