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Broadcom VMware issued fixes for multiple Pwn2Own-disclosed local privilege escalation flaws affecting ESXi and Workstation, where attackers with code execution inside a guest can potentially execute arbitrary code in the hypervisor context. The disclosed issues include CVE-2025-41236 in the VMXNET3 virtual device on ESXi, caused by an integer overflow; CVE-2025-41237 in VMCI on ESXi, caused by an integer underflow; and CVE-2025-41238 in the PVSCSI virtual device on Workstation, caused by improper validation of user-controlled length data leading to a heap-based buffer overflow. All three advisories assign a CVSS 8.2 score and describe the same exploitation precondition: the attacker must already be able to run high-privileged code on the guest OS.
The Aria Operations privilege-escalation research is a different VMware product issue and does not describe the same disclosure set. That separate report covers CVE-2025-41245 and CVE-2026-22721, where a vCenter user mapped by default to Aria’s PowerUser role could escalate to an Aria administrator and potentially gain access across integrated VMware environments. By contrast, the relevant Pwn2Own advisories focus specifically on guest-to-hypervisor escape paths in ESXi and Workstation, with Broadcom publishing updates through the same security advisory channel and crediting researchers from STAR Labs, Synacktiv, and REverse Tactics for the findings.
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3 events from the most recent confirmed update back to the earliest known activity.
On coordinated disclosure, ZDI published advisories for CVE-2025-41236 and CVE-2025-41237 affecting VMware ESXi and CVE-2025-41238 affecting VMware Workstation. VMware issued updates to remediate the guest-to-hypervisor escape vulnerabilities, which were disclosed following Pwn2Own reporting.
Corentin "@OnlyTheDuck" Bayet of REverse Tactics reported a VMware ESXi local privilege escalation vulnerability in the VMCI implementation, later assigned CVE-2025-41237, to VMware.
Nguyen Hoang Thach of STAR Labs SG Pte. Ltd. reported a VMware ESXi local privilege escalation vulnerability in the VMXNET3 virtual device, later assigned CVE-2025-41236, to VMware through the Pwn2Own process.
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Broadcom released fixes for three actively exploited VMware zero-day vulnerabilities affecting **ESXi**, **Workstation**, and **Fusion**, warning that the bugs can be chained to achieve a full virtual machine escape from a guest system to the hypervisor. The flaws, tracked as `CVE-2025-22224`, `CVE-2025-22225`, and `CVE-2025-22226`, include a critical issue and can enable code execution, sandbox escape, and access to sensitive memory when an attacker already has administrative privileges inside a guest VM. Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center reported the in-the-wild exploitation, and security researchers described the campaign as **ESXicape**. Affected products include unpatched **VMware ESXi 7.0 and 8.0**, **VMware Workstation 17.x before 17.6.3**, and **VMware Fusion 13.x before 13.6.3**. Organizations running VMware Cloud Foundation environments may need to account for Broadcom’s product-specific patching requirements and compatibility constraints when deploying updates, including cases where some component updates are handled through the in-product Flexible BOM rather than the Async Patch Tool. Defenders are being urged to apply the relevant ESXi patches immediately and upgrade desktop hypervisor products to the fixed releases to block guest-to-host compromise.
Jul 24, 2026
Broadcom has released emergency patches for **`CVE-2026-47876`**, a critical **out-of-bounds write** flaw in the **VMXNET3** virtual network adapter used by VMware ESX environments. The vulnerability, rated **CVSS 9.3** and mapped to **`CWE-787`**, allows an attacker with **local administrator or root privileges inside a guest VM** using VMXNET3 to execute code on the underlying host, creating a **guest-to-host escape** condition. Affected offerings include **VMware ESX**, **VMware Cloud Foundation**, **VMware vSphere Foundation**, and **VMware Telco Cloud Platform** across specified version ranges. Broadcom said there is **no evidence of active exploitation**, no complete workaround, and no published indicators of compromise, increasing pressure on defenders to apply vendor fixes quickly. Security researchers warned that successful exploitation could break VM isolation and expose the hypervisor, adjacent virtual machines, management systems, workloads, and infrastructure secrets, particularly in multi-tenant environments. The flaw was privately reported by **Nguyen Hoang Thach of STARLabs SG** through **Pwn2Own** and the **Zero Day Initiative**, and organizations are being urged to patch affected builds immediately and treat any privileged compromise of a VMXNET3-enabled guest on an unpatched host as a potential hypervisor incident.
Aug 1, 2026
Broadcom released **VMSA-2026-0006** to patch five vulnerabilities affecting **VMware vCenter, ESXi, Workstation, and Fusion**, including three critical flaws. The most severe issues are **`CVE-2026-59309`** and **`CVE-2026-59310`**, both rated **CVSS 9.8**, which can be exploited remotely against **vCenter** by an unauthenticated attacker with network access to bypass authentication or achieve remote code execution. Broadcom said there are **no workarounds** and urged organizations to prioritize patching, particularly for externally reachable or broadly accessible vCenter deployments. The advisory also fixes **`CVE-2026-47876`**, a critical **VM escape** in ESXi’s **VMXNET3** virtual network adapter that could let an attacker with local administrative privileges inside a guest VM execute arbitrary code on the ESXi host. Two additional flaws were patched: **`CVE-2026-41703`**, a high-severity issue affecting ESXi, Workstation, and Fusion that can cause information disclosure or, more likely, denial of service, and **`CVE-2026-41709`**, a low-severity ESXi logging-related bug. Broadcom said it is **not aware of in-the-wild exploitation** and published patching guidance and an FAQ for affected customers.
Aug 3, 2026