Actively exploited in the wild
VMware ESXi Authentication Bypass Vulnerability
VMware - ESXi · Listed in the CISA KEV since 2024-07-30. This indicates confirmed attacks in production environments.
Required action: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
CVE-2024-37085
MediumCVSS 6.8KEVSummary
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 configured to use AD for user management by re-creating the configured AD group ('ESXi Admins' by default) after it was deleted from AD.
Risk Assessment
An attacker could gain full control over the ESXi host, potentially compromising virtual machines and the entire virtual infrastructure.
Recommendation
Apply VMware patches for ESXi, restrict permissions to create groups in AD, and regularly audit AD groups used for ESXi management.
Other vulnerabilities in VMware ESXi
See all- CVE-2025-22225HighActively exploited
VMware ESXi contains an arbitrary write vulnerability. A malicious actor with privileges within the VMX process may trigger an arbitrary kernel write leading to an escape of the sandbox.
- CVE-2020-3992CriticalActively exploited
OpenSLP as used in VMware ESXi (7.0 before ESXi_7.0.1-0.0.16850804, 6.7 before ESXi670-202010401-SG, 6.5 before ESXi650-202010401-SG) has a use-after-free issue. A malicious actor residing in the management network who has access to port 427 on an ESXi machine may be able to trigger a use-after-free in the OpenSLP service resulting in remote code execution.
Original NVD description (English source)
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.