VMware ESXi Authentication Bypass Vulnerability (CVE-2024-37085)
Severity: high · Patch status: patched · Since 2024-07-30 · CVE-2024-37085
VMware ESXi contains an authentication bypass vulnerability. A malicious actor with sufficient Active Directory (AD) permissions can gain full access to an ESXi host that was previously configured to use AD for user management by re-creating the configured AD group ('ESXi Admins' by default) after it was deleted from AD. CISA added CVE-2024-37085 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on Jul 30, 2024, which means attackers are exploiting it in the wild. CISA reports known use in ransomware campaigns.
What to do
- Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
- US federal agencies must remediate by Aug 20, 2024 (BOD 22-01); treat that as the outer limit.
Sources
All live incidents on Threat Watch
