CVE-2023-20867 (GCVE-0-2023-20867)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2023-06-13 16:47 – Updated: 2025-10-21 23:05
VLAI CISA Previdian
Title
VMware Tools Authentication Bypass Vulnerability
Summary
A fully compromised ESXi host can force VMware Tools to fail to authenticate host-to-guest operations, impacting the confidentiality and integrity of the guest virtual machine.
Severity
3.9 (Low)
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
SSVC
Exploitation: active Automatable: no Technical Impact: partial
CISA Coordinator · CISA-ADP (v2.0.3)
Decision recorded 2025-02-04 19:00 UTC
CWE
  • CWE-287 - Improper Authentication
Assigner
vmware CNA under the mitre root
CNA scorecard C 64/100 over 226 records in the last 180 days details
References
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version CPE status
VMware VMware Tools Unaffected: 12.2.5
guessed Create a notification for this product.
CISA
Known Exploited Vulnerability - GCVE BCP-07 Compliant
KEV entry ID: a4a5f309-3149-4b71-aa53-5e75cd8d6d6d

Vulnerability ID: CVE-2023-20867

Status: Confirmed

Status Updated: 2023-06-23 00:00 UTC

Exploited: Yes

Timestamps
First Seen: 2023-06-23
Asserted: 2023-06-23
Scope
Notes: VMware Tools Authentication Bypass Vulnerability | Affected: VMware / Tools | Description: VMware Tools contains an authentication bypass vulnerability in the vgauth module. A fully compromised ESXi host can force VMware Tools to fail to authenticate host-to-guest operations, impacting the confidentiality and integrity of the guest virtual machine. An attacker must have root access over ESXi to exploit this vulnerability. | Required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions. | Due date: 2023-07-14 | Known ransomware campaign use (KEV): Unknown | Notes (KEV): https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2023-0013.html; https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-20867
Evidence

Type: Vendor Report

Signal: Successful Exploitation

Confidence: 80%

Source: cisa-kev

Details
Cwes CWE-287
Feed CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog
Product Tools
Due Date 2023-07-14
Date Added 2023-06-23
Vendorproject VMware
Vulnerabilityname VMware Tools Authentication Bypass Vulnerability
Knownransomwarecampaignuse Unknown
References
Created: 2026-02-02 12:26 UTC | Updated: 2026-11-04 13:36 UTC
Previdian
Known Exploited Vulnerability - GCVE BCP-07 Compliant
KEV entry ID: 6171be60-7107-435f-b922-b210619c1709

Vulnerability ID: CVE-2023-20867

Status: Confirmed

Status Updated: 2023-06-23 00:00 UTC

Exploited: Yes

Timestamps
First Seen: 2023-06-23
Asserted: 2023-06-23
Scope
Notes: KEVIntel entry: VMware Tools Authentication Bypass Vulnerability | Affected: VMware / VMware Tools | CVSS: 3.9 (LOW) | Used in malware: unknown | Not yet in CISA KEV: False
Evidence

Type: Public Report

Signal: Successful Exploitation

Confidence: 70%

Source: kevintel

Details
Feed KEVIntel (kevintel.com)
Title VMware Tools Authentication Bypass Vulnerability
Vendor VMware
Product VMware Tools
Added Date 2023-06-23T00:00:00.000Z
Cvss Score 3.9
Epss Score None
Cvss Severity LOW
Epss Percentile None
Used In Malware unknown
Ahead Of Cisa Kev None
Not Yet In Cisa Kev False
References
Created: 2026-06-23 14:05 UTC | Updated: 2026-07-10 06:14 UTC
Show details on NVD website
To clipboard 

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Drag nodes to arrange them. Double-click a related vulnerability to open it, or a source to visit its link. The Physics button on the left tunes the layout and the simulation; the legend at the bottom left hides or shows nodes by kind and by sighting type.

Forecast uses a logistic model when the trend is rising, or an exponential decay model when the trend is falling. Fitted via linearized least squares.

Sightings

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Nomenclature

  • Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
  • Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
  • Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
  • Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
  • Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
Vulnerability timeline

Sightings and recorded dates, grouped by day · UTC

JSON
How durations are calculated

Following the VTEM framework (Black Hat USA 2015), time to patch starts when the vendor or a coordinator was informed, total time to patch at discovery, and disclosure to patch at public disclosure; vendor response time runs from the report to its acknowledgement. Time to exploit and time unpatched start at the earliest discovery or report, falling back to public disclosure. Unpatched time ends at the first recorded patch, or the calculation time when no patch is recorded. Exploitation to patch shows the interval between those two events; a published proof of concept is a public exploit, not exploitation.

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