Privilege Escalation via Insecure Library Loading in VMware Workstation (CVE-2017-4915)

This repository contains a single Metasploit module (modules/exploits/linux/local/vmware_alsa_config.rb) that exploits CVE-2017-4915, a local privilege escalation vulnerability in VMware Workstation Pro and Player on Linux (prior to version 12.5.6). The exploit leverages the ALSA sound configuration file (~/.asoundrc) to load a malicious shared object as root when a virtual machine with a sound card is started. The module checks for the presence and version of VMware, ensures required tools (vmplayer, gcc) are available, and then creates a malicious .so file and a payload executable. It sets up a fake VM configuration and modifies user preferences to suppress popups. When the VM is launched, the ALSA config causes the attacker's code to be executed as root, resulting in a root shell or meterpreter session. The exploit is operational, requires local access, and targets Linux systems with vulnerable VMware installations. The main fingerprintable endpoints are the ALSA config (~/.asoundrc), VMware config files, and the writable directory used for payloads.