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CVE-2024-37085

VMware ESXi contains an authentication bypass vulnerability.

High Known exploited
Severity
7.2 / 10
High · CVSS 3.1
Exploit chance (EPSS)
26.77%
Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Higher than 98.03% of scored vulnerabilities.
Known exploited
Yes
In CISA's catalog since Jul 30, 2024
Weakness
CWE-287 Improper Authentication
CWE-305 Authentication Bypass by Primary Weakness
Fix
None yet
No fixed version published
Exploited in the wild. VMware ESXi Authentication Bypass Vulnerability (VMware ESXi). Required action: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable. Due for U.S. federal agencies by Aug 20, 2024. Known to be used in ransomware campaigns.

Description

VMware ESXi contains an authentication bypass vulnerability. A malicious actor with sufficient Active Directory (AD) permissions can gain full access to an ESXi host that was previously configured to use AD for user management https://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2012/09/joining-vsphere-hosts-to-active-directory.html by re-creating the configured AD group ('ESXi Admins' by default) after it was deleted from AD.

How to fix

No fixed version has been published yet. Until one is, remove or replace the package, or turn off or isolate the affected feature. This page updates when a fix ships.

Severity breakdown

CVSS 3.1 7.2

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Weakness

CWE-287: Improper Authentication

When an actor claims to have a given identity, the product does not prove or insufficiently proves that the claim is correct.

How to prevent it
  • Architecture and Design: Use an authentication framework or library such as the OWASP ESAPI Authentication feature.

CWE-305: Authentication Bypass by Primary Weakness

The authentication algorithm is sound, but the implemented mechanism can be bypassed as the result of a separate weakness that is primary to the authentication error.

References

Advisories

Other links

Timeline

  1. Published
  2. Added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog
  3. Remediation due for U.S. federal agencies
  4. Last updated by the source
  5. Latest EPSS score
AdvisorySeverityWhy it's related
GHSA-f9x3-7vq9-cph6
Laravel TokenGuard authentication bypass through non-string API credentials
Critical Same weakness, CWE-287
GHSA-r4xp-prcw-77qf
better-auth: OAuth Proxy lets an attacker sign in as another user
Critical Same weakness, CWE-287
GHSA-965c-763c-88jm
better-auth: OAuth state can be used as a Magic Link to sign in as another user
Critical Same weakness, CWE-287
GO-2026-6773
Nginx UI: Casdoor SSO callback uses a constant `state` parameter (login CSRF)
High Same weakness, CWE-287
GO-2026-6786
Nginx UI: TOTP / passkey enrolment requires no re-authentication, enabling persistent account takeover
High Same weakness, CWE-287
GHSA-xv7q-fvmc-jx96
Vikunja: OIDC email-fallback account linking ignores email_verified, enabling local-account takeover
High Same weakness, CWE-287
GHSA-68w4-83fh-f2w8
pyload-ng: getUserData/get_userdata exposed at Perms.ANY allow any authenticated account to brute-force the administrator password
High Same weakness, CWE-287
GHSA-r44w-v6gf-x3p6
pyLoad has an authentication bypass in API key validation (check_apikey cache)
High Same weakness, CWE-287
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