CVE-2006-3547 in Player
Summary
by MITRE
** DISPUTED ** EMC VMware Player allows user-assisted attackers to cause a denial of service (unrecoverable application failure) via a long value of the ide1:0.fileName parameter in the .vmx file of a virtual machine. NOTE: third parties have disputed this issue, saying that write access to the .vmx file enables other ways of stopping the virtual machine, so no privilege boundaries are crossed.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/17/2025
The vulnerability described in CVE-2006-3547 pertains to EMC VMware Player, a desktop virtualization application that enables users to run virtual machines on their local systems. This issue involves a potential denial of service condition that can be triggered through manipulation of virtual machine configuration files. The specific vector involves the ide1:0.fileName parameter within the .vmx configuration file, which contains the path to a virtual hard disk image. When an attacker provides an excessively long value for this parameter, the application fails to handle the input properly and crashes, resulting in an unrecoverable application failure that requires manual intervention to restore normal operation.
The technical flaw manifests as a buffer overflow or input validation vulnerability within VMware Player's parsing mechanism for virtual machine configuration files. When the application processes the .vmx file containing the malformed ide1:0.fileName parameter, it likely attempts to store or process the excessively long string without proper bounds checking or sanitization. This failure in input validation represents a classic vulnerability pattern that can be categorized under CWE-121, which describes stack-based buffer overflow conditions, though the exact mechanism may vary depending on the implementation details. The vulnerability exists at the boundary between user input and application processing, where insufficient validation allows malformed data to propagate through the system.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption, as it represents a potential attack vector that could be exploited in environments where virtual machine configuration files might be manipulated by untrusted parties. While the vulnerability requires user assistance to trigger, it demonstrates a fundamental weakness in how the application handles external input validation. The fact that this vulnerability could be triggered through configuration file manipulation suggests a broader security concern regarding file integrity and access controls within virtualization environments. In enterprise settings, this could potentially be exploited by malicious insiders or through compromised user accounts with write access to virtual machine configurations.
From a cybersecurity perspective, this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.001, which covers network denial of service attacks, though the specific implementation involves application-level rather than network-level disruption. The disputed nature of this CVE highlights the complexity of vulnerability assessment in virtualization environments, where the distinction between legitimate user privileges and malicious exploitation can be blurred. The third-party assertion that write access to .vmx files enables other methods of stopping virtual machines suggests that the real security boundary lies in access control rather than the specific parameter handling. This vulnerability underscores the importance of implementing proper input validation and privilege separation mechanisms in virtualization software, as well as the necessity of comprehensive security reviews that consider both direct exploitation paths and indirect attack vectors that may exist within the broader system architecture.