CVE-2008-1392 in Workstation
Summary
by MITRE
The default configuration of VMware Workstation 6.0.2, VMware Player 2.0.x before 2.0.3, and VMware ACE 2.0.x before 2.0.1 makes the console of the guest OS accessible through anonymous VIX API calls, which has unknown impact and attack vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/31/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2008-1392 represents a critical security flaw in VMware's virtualization products that affects multiple versions of VMware Workstation Player and ACE. This issue stems from improper default configuration settings that allow unauthorized access to guest operating system consoles through the VIX API interface. The VIX API serves as a programming interface for VMware's virtualization platform, enabling automation and management of virtual machines. When configured improperly, this API can be accessed without authentication, creating a significant security risk that extends beyond the typical boundaries of virtual machine isolation.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the VIX API's default configuration allowing anonymous connections to guest operating system consoles. This misconfiguration creates an attack surface where malicious actors can establish connections to virtual machines without proper authentication credentials. The vulnerability exists in the service initialization phase where the API server listens for incoming connections without enforcing authentication requirements. This flaw directly violates security principles of least privilege and proper access control, as it provides unrestricted access to virtual machine console interfaces that should typically require authentication and authorization.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is substantial and potentially severe across multiple threat scenarios. Attackers could leverage this vulnerability to gain unauthorized access to guest operating systems, potentially leading to data theft, system compromise, or lateral movement within network environments. The anonymous access capability means that any individual with network access to the host system could potentially exploit this vulnerability, making it particularly dangerous in shared or untrusted environments. The unknown impact and attack vectors referenced in the original description highlight the broad range of potential exploitation methods that could arise from this misconfiguration, including but not limited to privilege escalation, data exfiltration, and system manipulation.
From a cybersecurity framework perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-284, which addresses improper access control, and represents a classic example of insecure default configurations. The ATT&CK framework would categorize this under privilege escalation techniques, specifically leveraging service misconfigurations to gain unauthorized access to systems. Organizations using affected VMware products face significant risk of unauthorized virtual machine access, potentially leading to complete compromise of virtualized environments. The vulnerability's persistence across multiple product versions indicates a systemic configuration issue that requires immediate attention and remediation.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should include immediate configuration updates to enforce authentication requirements for VIX API access, implementation of network segmentation to limit access to virtualization hosts, and regular security audits of virtualization configurations. VMware released patches and updates to address this issue, and organizations should ensure all affected systems are updated to versions that properly enforce authentication. Network-level controls such as firewall rules to restrict VIX API access and monitoring for unauthorized connections should also be implemented. Additionally, security awareness training for administrators regarding proper virtualization configuration practices is essential to prevent similar issues in the future. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of secure configuration management and proper access control implementation in virtualized environments.