VMware Tools and Aria Operations Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability Advisory (CVE-2025-41244)
Executive & SecOps Summary
SECOPS ASSESSMENTVirtual machines with VMware Tools installed, managed by Aria Operations with SDMP (Service Discovery Management Pack) enabled
A malicious local actor with non-administrative privileges can exploit this vulnerability to escalate privileges to root on the same VM
Immediately apply the official security updates for VMware Tools and Aria Operations as recommended by Broadcom
Affected Products & Version Scope
Remediation & Live Workaround Commands
PATCH & WORKAROUND1. Official Patch & Version Upgrade Commands
Upgrade VMware Tools and Aria Operations to the latest secure versions according to Broadcom's official advisory. Use the following commands to update open-vm-tools on Linux systems:
# For Debian/Ubuntu-based systems
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get --only-upgrade install open-vm-tools -y
# For RHEL/CentOS/Rocky Linux-based systems
sudo yum update open-vm-tools -y2. Temporary Workaround & Hardening Configuration
If immediate patching is not feasible, disable the SDMP feature or stop the associated services to mitigate the attack vector.
# Stop and disable SDMP-related services on the guest OS
sudo systemctl stop sdmp-service 2>/dev/null || true
sudo systemctl disable sdmp-service 2>/dev/null || true
# Restrict local access and audit active local user sessions
who -u3. Log Audit & IoC Verification Commands
Verify the installed VMware Tools version and inspect system logs for potential privilege escalation attempts.
# Check the current VMware Tools version
vmware-toolbox-cmd -v
# Audit authentication logs for suspicious privilege escalation (sudo/su) attempts
grep -E 'failed|unauthorized|COMMAND=' /var/log/auth.log /var/log/secure 2>/dev/null | tail -n 50Block Kernel Privilege Escalation & Ransomware Payloads Before You Can Reboot
Protect unpatched Windows, Linux, and macOS workloads against in-memory exploitation and lateral movement with autonomous EDR.
Technical Root Cause & Exploitation Mechanics
1. Vulnerability Overview & Root Cause
This vulnerability (CVE-2025-41244) is a local privilege escalation (LPE) vulnerability existing in VMware Tools when installed on virtual machines managed by VMware Aria Operations with the Service Discovery Management Pack (SDMP) enabled. Classified under CWE-267 (Privilege Defined with Unsafe Actions), the root cause lies in improper privilege boundaries and validation within the communication or execution paths between the VMware Tools agent and the SDMP daemon.
2. Exploitation Mechanics & Attack Scenario
To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must first gain local access to the target virtual machine with non-administrative privileges. When SDMP is active, certain high-privilege processes run to collect service discovery data. By manipulating local resources, symbolic links, or environment variables that these high-privilege processes interact with, the low-privileged attacker can force the system to execute arbitrary commands or load malicious payloads under root privileges, achieving full system compromise.
3. Infrastructure & Business Impact
With a CVSS score of 7.8 (High) and its inclusion in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, this vulnerability poses an active threat to enterprise environments. Successful exploitation grants the attacker full root access to the affected virtual machine. This allows complete data exfiltration, system disruption, and serves as a critical launching pad for lateral movement across the virtualized infrastructure and hypervisors.
Official Vendor Advisories & References
VMware Aria Operations and VMware Tools contain a local privilege escalation vulnerability. A malicious local actor with non-administrative privileges having access to a VM with VMware Tools installed and managed by Aria Operations with SDMP enabled may exploit this vulnerability to escalate privileges to root on the same VM.
Frequently Asked SecOps Questions (CVE-2025-41244)
FAQQ1. How critical is CVE-2025-41244 and is it actively exploited in the wild?
CVE-2025-41244 is rated CVSS 7.8 (HIGH) with a 30-day EPSS exploitation probability of 8.6%. It is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, requiring immediate emergency remediation.
Q2. Which vendors and products are affected by CVE-2025-41244?
Primary impacted vendors include vmware, broadcom across aria_operations, vmware_tools. Scope summary: VMware Tools installed on VMs managed by VMware Aria Operations with Service Discovery Management Pack (SDMP) enabled
Q3. What temporary mitigations or workarounds exist for CVE-2025-41244 before patching?
[Mitigation] Immediately apply the official security updates for VMware Tools and Aria Operations as recommended by Broadcom Follow the CLI remediation commands and interactive SecOps checklist on this page to restrict exposure prior to your maintenance window.
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