CVE-2015-6933 in Workstation
Summary
by MITRE
The VMware Tools HGFS (aka Shared Folders) implementation in VMware Workstation 11.x before 11.1.2, VMware Player 7.x before 7.1.2, VMware Fusion 7.x before 7.1.2, and VMware ESXi 5.0 through 6.0 allows Windows guest OS users to gain guest OS privileges or cause a denial of service (guest OS kernel memory corruption) via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/02/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2015-6933 represents a critical privilege escalation and denial of service flaw within VMware's Host-Guest File System implementation. This security weakness affects multiple VMware products including Workstation, Player, Fusion, and ESXi across several version ranges, specifically targeting Windows guest operating systems. The vulnerability resides in the HGFS component which facilitates shared folder functionality between host and guest systems, creating a potential attack surface that could be exploited by malicious actors within the guest environment.
The technical flaw manifests through unspecified vectors that enable Windows guest users to escalate their privileges to that of the guest operating system itself, effectively bypassing normal access controls and potentially gaining administrative rights within the guest environment. Additionally, the vulnerability can be exploited to cause kernel memory corruption in the guest operating system, leading to denial of service conditions that may result in system crashes or complete system instability. This dual nature of the vulnerability presents both privilege escalation and denial of service attack vectors that significantly compromise system integrity and availability.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability represents a severe threat to virtualized environments where multiple users share the same host system. The ability to escalate privileges within guest operating systems means that a compromised guest could potentially access sensitive data, modify system configurations, or establish persistent backdoors. The denial of service component further amplifies the risk as it can be used to disrupt legitimate user sessions and compromise the availability of virtualized services. Organizations relying on VMware virtualization platforms for business-critical applications face significant operational risks when this vulnerability remains unpatched.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-264, which addresses permissions, privileges, and access controls, and specifically relates to privilege escalation vulnerabilities within virtualized environments. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to privilege escalation techniques and can be leveraged to establish persistence within compromised virtual machines. The attack surface is particularly concerning given that guest users can exploit this weakness without requiring direct access to the host system, making it a particularly insidious threat vector in multi-tenant virtualization environments. Organizations should implement immediate patch management procedures to address this vulnerability across all affected VMware products, as the potential for both data compromise and service disruption makes this a critical security concern requiring immediate remediation.
The affected versions of VMware products span multiple release lines, indicating that this vulnerability has been present for an extended period and likely exploited in the wild. This widespread impact across different VMware products and versions underscores the importance of comprehensive vulnerability management programs that address all components of virtualization infrastructure. The vulnerability's presence in both desktop and server virtualization products suggests that organizations should conduct thorough security assessments of their entire virtualized environment to identify any potential exploitation attempts. Proper network segmentation and access controls should be implemented to limit the potential impact of any successful exploitation attempts, while regular security monitoring should be employed to detect anomalous behavior that might indicate compromise.