CVE-2020-3948

Severity: high (CVSS 7.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.3% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2020-03-16 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-732

Description

Linux Guest VMs running on VMware Workstation (15.x before 15.5.2) and Fusion (11.x before 11.5.2) contain a local privilege escalation vulnerability due to improper file permissions in Cortado Thinprint. Local attackers with non-administrative access to a Linux guest VM with virtual printing enabled may exploit this issue to elevate their privileges to root on the same guest VM.

Affected products

VMware Fusion: from 11.0.0 before 11.5.2 — fixed in 11.5.2
VMware Workstation: from 15.0.0 before 15.5.2 — fixed in 15.5.2
VMware Fusion: 11.x before 11.5.2
VMware Workstation: 15.x before 15.5.2

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: VMware Fusion 11.5.2; VMware Workstation 15.5.2. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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