CVE-2009-1147 in Player
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in vmci.sys in the Virtual Machine Communication Interface (VMCI) in VMware Workstation 6.5.1 and earlier, VMware Player 2.5.1 and earlier, VMware ACE 2.5.1 and earlier, and VMware Server 2.0.x before 2.0.1 build 156745 allows local users to gain privileges via unknown vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/09/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2009-1147 resides within the vmci.sys driver component of VMware's Virtual Machine Communication Interface implementation across multiple products including VMware Workstation 6.5.1 and earlier versions, VMware Player 2.5.1 and earlier, VMware ACE 2.5.1 and earlier, and VMware Server 2.0.x before build 156745. This unspecified vulnerability represents a critical security flaw that enables local attackers to escalate their privileges within the virtualized environment. The VMCI driver serves as a communication interface between virtual machines and the host system, making it a prime target for privilege escalation attacks. The vulnerability's nature remains unspecified in the original description, suggesting that the exact technical mechanism enabling privilege escalation has not been fully disclosed in the public record.
The technical flaw within vmci.sys likely involves improper input validation or memory management within the kernel-mode driver that handles VMCI communications. This type of vulnerability typically stems from inadequate bounds checking, buffer overflows, or improper privilege validation mechanisms within the driver code. When local users execute malicious code against this vulnerable driver, they can leverage the kernel-level access to elevate their privileges to system level. The attack vector appears to be local privilege escalation, meaning an attacker must already have access to the system to exploit this vulnerability, but can then gain elevated privileges to perform actions that would normally be restricted.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends significantly beyond simple privilege escalation, as it fundamentally compromises the security model of virtualized environments. In VMware's virtualization architecture, proper privilege separation between host and guest operating systems is crucial for maintaining security boundaries. When an attacker can escalate privileges through the VMCI driver, they can potentially access sensitive data, manipulate virtual machine configurations, or even compromise the entire host system. This vulnerability undermines the isolation guarantees that virtualization technologies are designed to provide, making it particularly dangerous in multi-tenant environments or scenarios where multiple users share the same physical hardware. The vulnerability affects multiple VMware products simultaneously, indicating a fundamental flaw in the driver implementation that spans across the entire VMware product line.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2009-1147 should prioritize immediate patching of affected VMware products to the latest available versions that contain fixes for this privilege escalation vulnerability. System administrators should ensure that all VMware installations are updated to versions that include the security patches released by VMware following the discovery of this vulnerability. Additionally, implementing proper access controls and limiting local user privileges on systems running VMware products can help reduce the attack surface. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-248, which addresses "Uncaught Exception in a Kernel Module," and represents a classic example of how kernel-mode vulnerabilities can be exploited for privilege escalation. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability would map to privilege escalation techniques such as kernel exploits and driver-based attacks, making it a significant concern for organizations implementing virtualized security architectures. Organizations should also consider implementing monitoring and detection mechanisms to identify potential exploitation attempts against virtualization components and maintain comprehensive incident response procedures for handling such security incidents.