CVE-2024-38813: Privilege escalation vulnerability

Severity: critical (CVSS 9.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: yes — in CISA KEV since 2024-11-20
EPSS: 17.4% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2024-09-17 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-273

Description

The vCenter Server contains a privilege escalation vulnerability. A malicious actor with network access to vCenter Server may trigger this vulnerability to escalate privileges to root by sending a specially crafted network packet.

Summary

CVE-2024-38813 is a critical privilege escalation flaw in VMware vCenter Server (CVSS 9.8) that lets an attacker with network access send a specially crafted packet to gain root privileges. It affects VMware vCenter Server and VMware Cloud Foundation, which is fixed in version 5.2. The vulnerability is listed in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog with active exploitation, and EPSS gives a 17.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days. Apply the vendor's mitigations or fixed versions (Cloud Foundation 5.2), or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

CVE-2024-38813 ثغرة حرجة لتصعيد الامتيازات في VMware vCenter Server (بدرجة CVSS 9.8) تتيح للمهاجم الذي يملك وصولاً إلى الشبكة إرسال حزمة شبكة مصممة خصيصاً للوصول إلى صلاحيات root. تؤثر الثغرة في VMware vCenter Server وVMware Cloud Foundation، وقد تم إصلاحها في الإصدار 5.2 من Cloud Foundation. الثغرة مدرجة في كتالوج CISA للثغرات المعروفة بالاستغلال مع استغلال نشط، وتقدّر EPSS احتمال الاستغلال خلال 30 يوماً بنسبة 17.4%. طبّق إرشادات التخفيف من المورّد أو الإصدارات المصلحة (Cloud Foundation 5.2)، أو أوقف استخدام المنتج إذا لم تتوفر حلول التخفيف.

Affected products

VMware Cloud Foundation: from 4.0 before 5.2 — fixed in 5.2
VMware vCenter Server: 7.0, 7.0-a, 7.0-b, 7.0-c, 7.0-d, 7.0-update1 (+42)
Broadcom Vmware Center Server: from 8.0 before 8.0_u3b; from 7.0 before 7.0_u3s — fixed in 8.0_u3b, 7.0_u3s
Broadcom Vmware Cloud Foundation: from 5.0 before 6.0; from 4.0 before 5.0 — fixed in 6.0, 5.0
VMware Cloud Foundation: 5.x, 4.x
VMware vCenter Server: from 8.0 before 8.0 U3b; from 7.0 before 7.0 U3s — fixed in 8.0 U3b, 7.0 U3s

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: VMware Cloud Foundation 5.2; Broadcom Vmware Center Server 8.0_u3b, 7.0_u3s; Broadcom Vmware Cloud Foundation 6.0, 5.0; VMware vCenter Server 8.0 U3b, 7.0 U3s. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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