CVE-2025-41244
Broadcom VMware Aria Operations and VMware Tools Privilege Defined with Unsafe Actions Vulnerability
This vulnerability is in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog: attackers are using it. If you run VMware Aria Operations and VMware Tools, fix it now.
CISA required action: 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 civilian agencies must remediate by Nov 20, 2025.
Patch status
No official fix confirmed yet
Until a fix ships, follow the vendor's mitigations and CISA's required action, limit exposure of affected systems, and watch this record for a patch.
Description
VMware Aria Operations and VMware Tools contain a local privilege escalation vulnerability. A malicious local actor with non-administrative privileges having access to a VM with VMware Tools installed and managed by Aria Operations with SDMP enabled may exploit this vulnerability to escalate privileges to root on the same VM.
Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database. Official vulnerability data, reproduced as published.
Affected products
| Product | Vendor | Affected versions | Fixed in | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tools | VMware (Broadcom) | >= 12.5.0, < 12.5.4; >= 13.0.0.0, < 13.0.5.0 | 12.5.4; 13.0.5.0 | NVD |
| VMware Aria Operations | VMware (Broadcom) | >= 8.0, < 8.18.5 | 8.18.5 | NVD |
| VMware Aria Operations and VMware Tools | VMware (Broadcom) | — | — | KEV |
Sources: NVD = NIST National Vulnerability Database; KEV = CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
Intelligence timeline
Developments from the last 30 days, newest first.
- CVSS scoredUpdateKEV
CVE-2025-41244 scored CVSS 7.8: Broadcom VMware Aria Operations and VMware Tools, Broadcom VMware Aria Operations and VMware Tools Privilege Defined with Unsafe Actions Vulnerability
CISA lists this as exploited in the wild. Unpatched VMware Aria Operations and VMware Tools systems are exposed to active attacks now.
Basis: NIST National Vulnerability Database
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Coverage
We have not published a story about this vulnerability yet.