CVE-2019-5511

Severity: high (CVSS 8.8 v3.0)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.4% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2019-04-09 · updated 2026-06-17

Description

VMware Workstation (15.x before 15.0.3, 14.x before 14.1.6) running on Windows does not handle paths appropriately. Successful exploitation of this issue may allow the path to the VMX executable, on a Windows host, to be hijacked by a non-administrator leading to elevation of privilege.

Affected products

VMware Workstation: from 14.0.0 before 14.1.6; from 15.0.0 before 15.0.3 — fixed in 14.1.6, 15.0.3
VMware Workstation: from VMware Workstation 15.x prior through 15.0.3, 14.x before 14.1.6

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: VMware Workstation 14.1.6, 15.0.3. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2019-0002.html
https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2019-0002.html

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