VMware ESXi and Workstation TOCTOU Race Condition Vulnerability (CVE-2025-22224)
Severity: high · Patch status: unknown · Since 2025-03-04 · CVE-2025-22224
VMware ESXi and Workstation contain a time-of-check time-of-use (TOCTOU) race condition vulnerability that leads to an out-of-bounds write. Successful exploitation enables an attacker with local administrative privileges on a virtual machine to execute code as the virtual machine's VMX process running on the host. CISA added CVE-2025-22224 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on Mar 4, 2025, which means attackers are exploiting it in the wild.
What to do
- Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
- US federal agencies must remediate by Mar 25, 2025 (BOD 22-01); treat that as the outer limit.
Sources
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