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VMSA-2016-0001

VMware ESXi, Fusion, Player, and Workstation updates address important guest privilege escalation vulnerability

1. Summary

VMware ESXi, Fusion, Player, and Workstation updates address important guest privilege escalation vulnerability

2. Relevant Releases

VMware ESXi 6.0 without patch ESXi600-201601102-SG
VMware ESXi 5.5 without patch ESXi550-201512102-SG
VMware ESXi 5.1 without patch ESXi510-201510102-SG
VMware ESXi 5.0 without patch ESXi500-201510102-SG

VMware Workstation prior to 11.1.2

VMware Player prior to 7.1.2

VMware Fusion prior to 7.1.2

3. Problem Description

Important Windows-based guest privilege escalation in VMware Tools

A kernel memory corruption vulnerability is present in the VMware Tools "Shared Folders" (HGFS) feature running on Microsoft Windows. Successful exploitation of this issue could lead to an escalation of privilege in the guest operating system.

VMware would like to thank Dmitry Janushkevich from the Secunia Research Team for reporting this issue to us.

Note: This vulnerability does not allow for privilege escalation from the guest operating system to the host. Host memory can not be manipulated from the guest operating system by exploiting this flaw.

The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the identifier CVE-2015-6933 to this issue.

Workarounds
Removing the "Shared Folders" (HGFS) feature from previously installed VMware Tools will remove the possibility of exploitation.

Column 4 of the following table lists the action required to remediate the vulnerability in each release, if a solution is available.

*After the update or patch is applied, VMware Tools must also be updated in any Windows-based guests that include the "Shared Folders" (HGFS) feature to resolve CVE-2015-6933. The affected "Shared Folders" (HGFS) feature is installed by default on hosted (Workstation, Fusion, Player) products only. Alternatively, version 10.0.0 of VMware Tools is available for independent download and includes the fix.

4. Solution

Please review the patch/release notes for your product and version and verify the checksum of your downloaded file.

VMware ESXi 6.0
Downloads:
https://www.vmware.com/patchmgr/findPatch.portal

Documentation:
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2135123

VMware ESXi 5.5
Downloads:
https://www.vmware.com/patchmgr/findPatch.portal

Documentation:
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2135796

VMware ESXi 5.1
Downloads:
https://www.vmware.com/patchmgr/findPatch.portal
Documentation:
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2126488

VMware ESXi 5.0
Downloads:
https://www.vmware.com/patchmgr/findPatch.portal
Documentation:
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2120210

VMware Workstation 11.1.2
Downloads and Documentation:
https://www.vmware.com/go/downloadworkstation

VMware Player 7.1.2
Downloads and Documentation:
https://www.vmware.com/go/downloadplayer

VMware Fusion 7.1.2
https://www.vmware.com/go/downloadfusion

VMware Tools 10.0.0
Downloads:
https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/details?downloadGroup=VMTOOLS1000&productId=491

Documentation:
https://pubs.vmware.com/Release_Notes/en/vmwaretools/1000/vmware-tools-1000-release-notes.html

5. References

http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2015-6933

6. Change log

2016-01-07 VMSA-2016-0001 Initial security advisory in conjunction with the release of VMware ESXi 6.0 patches on 2016-01-07.

7. Contact

E-mail list for product security notifications and announcements:

http://lists.vmware.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/security-announce

This Security Advisory is posted to the following lists:

security-announce at lists.vmware.com

bugtraq at securityfocus.com

fulldisclosure at seclists.org

E-mail: security at vmware.com

PGP key at: https://kb.vmware.com/kb/1055

VMware Security Advisories

http://www.vmware.com/security/advisories

Consolidated list of VMware Security Advisories

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2078735

VMware Security Response Policy

https://www.vmware.com/support/policies/security_response.html

VMware Lifecycle Support Phases

https://www.vmware.com/support/policies/lifecycle.html

Twitter

https://twitter.com/VMwareSRC

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