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.
This vulnerability carries a MEDIUM severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 6.8, indicating it can be exploited remotely over the network with relatively low complexity though user interaction is required . The vulnerability impacts confidentiality (data exposure), integrity (unauthorized modifications), and availability (service disruption) for affected systems. Impacting 2 products from vmware, from vmware organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.
Reported in 2024, this vulnerability emerged during an era marked by increased sophistication in supply chain attacks, cloud infrastructure vulnerabilities, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) security challenges. Security practices during this period emphasized zero-trust architectures, container security, and API protection.
2024-06-25T15:15:12.377
2025-10-30T19:52:34.230
Analyzed
CVSSv3.1: 6.8 (MEDIUM)
| Type | Vendor | Product | Version/Range | Vulnerable? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Application | vmware | cloud_foundation | < 5.2 | Yes |
| Operating System | vmware | esxi | 7.0 | Yes |
| Operating System | vmware | esxi | 8.0 | Yes |
| Operating System | vmware | esxi | 8.0 | Yes |
| Operating System | vmware | esxi | 8.0 | Yes |
| Operating System | vmware | esxi | 8.0 | Yes |
| Operating System | vmware | esxi | 8.0 | Yes |
| Operating System | vmware | esxi | 8.0 | Yes |
| Operating System | vmware | esxi | 8.0 | Yes |
| Operating System | vmware | esxi | 8.0 | Yes |
| Operating System | vmware | esxi | 8.0 | Yes |
| Operating System | vmware | esxi | 8.0 | Yes |
| Operating System | vmware | esxi | 8.0 | Yes |
SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For vmware's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.