{"id":59540,"date":"2025-07-21T14:23:18","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T14:23:18","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-09-16T00:11:49","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T06:11:49","slug":"cve-2025-41237-critical-integer-underflow-vulnerability-in-vmware-products","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-41237-critical-integer-underflow-vulnerability-in-vmware-products\/","title":{"rendered":"CVE-2025-41237: Critical Integer-Underflow Vulnerability in VMware Products<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"

Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n

The cybersecurity landscape is constantly evolving, with new vulnerabilities emerging regularly. One such vulnerability, designated CVE-2025-41237, affects popular VMware products, including ESXi, Workstation, and Fusion. This vulnerability is particularly concerning due to its high severity<\/a> rating and the possibility of system compromise or data leakage. As such, it is critical<\/a> for system administrators and cybersecurity professionals to understand this vulnerability, its potential impacts, and the necessary steps for mitigation.
\nCVE-2025-41237 exploits an integer-underflow in the Virtual Machine<\/a> Communication Interface (VMCI) of the affected VMware products. By exploiting this vulnerability, an attacker with local administrative privileges on a virtual machine can execute code on the host machine, potentially leading to severe consequences such as unauthorized<\/a> data access or system disruption.<\/p>\n

Vulnerability Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n

CVE ID: CVE-2025-41237
\nSeverity: Critical (CVSS score 9.3)
\nAttack Vector: Local
\nPrivileges Required: Administrative
\nUser Interaction: None
\nImpact: System Compromise and Data<\/a> Leakage<\/p>\n

Affected Products<\/strong><\/p>\n

Product | Affected Versions<\/p>\n

VMware ESXi<\/a> | All versions prior to the latest patch
\nVMware Workstation | All versions prior<\/a> to the latest patch
\nVMware Fusion | All versions prior<\/a> to the latest patch<\/p>\n

How the Exploit Works<\/strong><\/p>\n

The vulnerability arises from an integer-underflow<\/a> in the VMCI of the affected VMware products. An integer-underflow is a condition that can occur in a computer program when an integer is decreased below its defined range. This leads to an out-of-bounds write, thereby allowing malicious actors to manipulate data<\/a> and control program execution.
\nIn the case of CVE-2025-41237, a malicious actor with local administrative privileges on a virtual machine can exploit this vulnerability to execute code<\/a> as the VMX process running on the host. While on ESXi, the exploitation is contained within the VMX sandbox, on Workstation and Fusion, it may lead to code<\/a> execution on the machine where Workstation or Fusion is installed.<\/p>\n

Conceptual Example Code<\/strong><\/p>\n

While a precise exploit code for CVE-2025-41237 is not publicly available considering the critical nature of the vulnerability<\/a>, a conceptual example could look something like this:<\/p>\n

# Pseudo code demonstrating the exploit\ndef exploit():\n# Underflow the integer\nint_underflow = 0x100000000 - 1\n# Craft malicious payload\npayload = struct.pack('<\/pre>\n
In this conceptual example, the attacker crafts a payload that would cause an integer underflow<\/a>, then writes this payload to the VMCI. This would result in out-of-bounds write<\/a>, potentially leading to code execution on the host machine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Overview The cybersecurity landscape is constantly evolving, with new vulnerabilities emerging regularly. One such vulnerability, designated CVE-2025-41237, affects popular VMware products, including ESXi, Workstation, and Fusion. This vulnerability is particularly concerning due to its high severity rating and the possibility of system compromise or data leakage. As such, it is critical for system administrators and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"vendor":[93],"product":[107],"attack_vector":[86],"asset_type":[],"severity":[],"exploit_status":[],"class_list":["post-59540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","vendor-vmware","product-vmware-esxi","attack_vector-buffer-overflow"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t