CVE-2024-22252: vmware esxi Use After Free

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2024-22252 is a critical (CVSS 9.3) Use After Free vulnerability in vmware esxi. EPSS estimates a 3.54% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 89.1% of scored vulnerabilities.

Timeline

1. 05-03-2024
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 27-03-2025
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

VMware ESXi, Workstation, and Fusion contain a use-after-free vulnerability in the XHCI USB controller. A malicious actor with local administrative privileges on a virtual machine may exploit this issue to execute code as the virtual machine's VMX process running on the host. On ESXi, the exploitation is contained within the VMX sandbox whereas, on Workstation and Fusion, this may lead to code execution on the machine where Workstation or Fusion is installed.

• CWE-416Use After FreeThe product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.