{"id":"CVE-2025-22224","kind":"vulnerability","aliases":["CVE-2025-22224"],"related":[],"title":"VMware ESXi, and Workstation contain a TOCTOU (Time-of-Check Time-of-Use) vulnerability that leads to an…","description":"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.\n\nCISA 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.","summary":"VMware ESXi and Workstation have a race condition (TOCTOU) that causes an out-of-bounds write. An attacker with administrative rights inside a virtual machine can run code as the VMX process on the host.","severity":"critical","cvss":9.3,"epss":null,"exploited":true,"exploited_at":"2025-03-04T00:00:00+00:00","products":[{"name":"VMware ESXi and Workstation","fixed":[],"affected":"","ecosystem":"vendor"},{"name":"vmware esxi","fixed":[],"affected":"= 7.0","ecosystem":"vendor"},{"name":"vmware esxi","fixed":[],"affected":"= 8.0","ecosystem":"vendor"},{"name":"vmware cloud foundation","fixed":[],"affected":"","ecosystem":"vendor"},{"name":"vmware telco cloud infrastructure","fixed":[],"affected":"= 2.2","ecosystem":"vendor"},{"name":"vmware telco cloud infrastructure","fixed":[],"affected":"= 2.5","ecosystem":"vendor"},{"name":"vmware telco cloud infrastructure","fixed":[],"affected":"= 2.7","ecosystem":"vendor"},{"name":"vmware telco cloud infrastructure","fixed":[],"affected":"= 3.0","ecosystem":"vendor"},{"name":"vmware telco cloud platform","fixed":[],"affected":"= 2.0","ecosystem":"vendor"},{"name":"vmware telco cloud platform","fixed":[],"affected":"= 2.5","ecosystem":"vendor"},{"name":"vmware telco cloud platform","fixed":[],"affected":"= 2.7","ecosystem":"vendor"},{"name":"vmware telco cloud platform","fixed":[],"affected":"= 3.0","ecosystem":"vendor"},{"name":"vmware telco cloud platform","fixed":[],"affected":"= 4.0","ecosystem":"vendor"},{"name":"vmware telco cloud platform","fixed":[],"affected":"= 4.0.1","ecosystem":"vendor"},{"name":"vmware telco cloud platform","fixed":[],"affected":"= 5.0","ecosystem":"vendor"},{"name":"vmware workstation","fixed":["17.6.3"],"affected":">= 17.0, < 17.6.3","ecosystem":"vendor"}],"ecosystems":["vendor"],"tags":["esxi","exploited","infrastructure","virtualization","vmware-workstation"],"not_affected_if":["no-vmware-hosts"],"how_to_check":null,"fix":"Apply the vendor mitigations per VMware's advisory; CISA says to discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.","status":"open","published_at":"2025-03-04T00:00:00+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T19:11:51+00:00","triaged_at":"2026-10-23T20:52:17+00:00","updated_at":"2026-10-23T22:29:05+00:00","category":"infrastructure","confidence":0.7,"triage":{"at":"2026-10-23T20:52:17Z","model":"claude-haiku-5-5","output":{"fix":"Apply the vendor mitigations per VMware's advisory; CISA says to discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.","reach":"local","impact":"high","summary":"VMware ESXi and Workstation have a race condition (TOCTOU) that causes an out-of-bounds write. An attacker with administrative rights inside a virtual machine can run code as the VMX process on the host.","category":"infrastructure","who_cares":["esxi","vmware-workstation","virtualization"],"confidence":0.7,"needs_auth":"yes","worst_case":"Guest admin escapes VM and runs code as host VMX process","analyst_note":"Find the VMware advisory for CVE-2025-22224 and confirm affected and fixed versions plus the exact mitigation steps; sources here did not list them.","how_to_check":"unknown","needs_analyst":true,"not_affected_if":["no-vmware-hosts"],"user_interaction":"no","needs_special_setup":"unknown","severity_if_unknown":"high"},"cost_usd":0.000448,"input_tokens":2711,"output_tokens":354,"severity_before":"unknown"},"analyst_status":null,"analyst_note":null,"search":"'-01':191C '-2025':20A,23A '-22224':21A,24A '22':190C 'action':181C 'administr':109B,159C 'and':27A 'appli':182C 'applic':188C 'attack':107B,156C 'bod':189C 'bound':104B,150C 'caus':99B 'check':11A,134C 'cisa':179C 'cloud':34A,38A,42A,46A,50A,54A,58A,62A,66A,70A,74A,78A,194C 'code':117B,167C 'condit':96B,141C 'contain':5A,129C 'cve':19A,22A 'discontinu':197C 'enabl':154C 'esxi':2A,26A,30A,32A,82B,90B,126C 'execut':166C 'exploit':83B,153C 'follow':187C 'foundation':35A 'guidanc':192C 'host':124B,178C 'infrastructur':84B 'infrastructure':39A,43A,47A,51A 'insid':111B 'instruct':186C 'lead':18A,144C 'local':158C 'machin':114B,164C,171C 'mitig':183C,203C 'out-of-bound':101B,147C 'per':184C 'platform':55A,59A,63A,67A,71A,75A,79A 'privileg':160C 'process':121B,174C 'product':201C 'race':95B,140C 'requir':180C 'right':110B 'run':116B,175C 'servic':195C 'success':152C 'telco':37A,41A,45A,49A,53A,57A,61A,65A,69A,73A,77A 'time':9A,13A,132C,136C 'time-of-check':8A,131C 'time-of-us':12A,135C 'toctou':7A,97B,139C 'unavail':205C 'use':15A,138C,198C 'vendor':185C 'virtual':85B,113B,163C,170C 'vmware':1A,25A,29A,31A,33A,36A,40A,44A,48A,52A,56A,60A,64A,68A,72A,76A,80A,87B,89B,125C 'vmware-workst':86B 'vmx':120B,173C 'vulner':16A,142C 'workstat':4A,88B,92B,128C 'workstation':28A,81A 'write':105B,151C","nicknames":[],"mitigations":[],"who_affected":null,"tier":null,"verified":{},"analyst_revisit_at":null,"first_public_at":"2025-03-04T00:00:00+00:00","kev":{"dateAdded":"2025-03-04","dueDate":"2025-03-25","requiredAction":"Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.","knownRansomwareCampaignUse":"Unknown"},"cvss_vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H","cvss_by":"security@vmware.com","poc_count":0,"sources":[{"source":"kev","external_id":"CVE-2025-22224","url":"https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?search_api_fulltext=CVE-2025-22224","severity":null,"published_at":"2025-03-04T00:00:00+00:00","modified_at":null,"first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T19:11:51+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-10-25T16:39:46+00:00","note":null},{"source":"nvd","external_id":"CVE-2025-22224","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-22224","severity":null,"published_at":"2025-03-04T12:15:33+00:00","modified_at":"2026-06-17T08:45:43+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T22:29:05+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-10-23T22:29:05+00:00","note":null}],"documents":[],"notice":"Free to read at a human pace. An API with keys and an MCP server are in preparation; early access: hello@infrastack.ai"}