VMware ESXi SLP Use-After-Free Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

October 20th, 2020
ZDI-20-1269 ZDI-CAN-11563

CVE ID

CVE-2020-3992

CVSS Score

9.8 AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected Vendors

VMware

Affected Products

ESXi

Vulnerability Details

This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of VMware ESXi. Authentication is not required to exploit this vulnerability.

The specific flaw exists within the processing of SLP messages. The issue results from the lack of validating the existence of an object prior to performing operations on the object. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of the SLP daemon.

Additional Details

VMware has issued an update to correct this vulnerability. More details can be found at:
https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2020-0023.html

Disclosure Timeline

  • 2020-07-22 - Vulnerability reported to vendor
  • 2020-10-20 - Coordinated public release of advisory

Credit

Lucas Leong (@_wmliang_) of Trend Micro's Zero Day Initiative

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