# CVE-2012-1515: Privilege escalation in n/a

> Guest OS users can escalate privileges by overwriting read-only memory in the Virtual DOS Machine via improper port-based I/O operations.

- **Severity:** High 8.3 (`AV:A/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 2 Apr 2012
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-8758-2jw5-f6gw

## What is CVE-2012-1515?

CVE-2012-1515 is a high-severity vulnerability in Vmware Esx, published on 2 Apr 2012. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

VMware ESXi 3.5, 4.0, and 4.1 and ESX 3.5, 4.0, and 4.1 do not properly implement port-based I/O operations, which allows guest OS users to gain guest OS privileges by overwriting memory locations in a read-only memory block associated with the Virtual DOS Machine.

Weakness: CWE-264

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2012-1515?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Vmware Esx, Vmware Esxi.

## How do I fix CVE-2012-1515?

No fix has been published for CVE-2012-1515 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2012-1515 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2012-1515 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Vmware Esx

- [CVE-2013-1405](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-1405/): Auth bypass in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2012-1516](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-1516/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.9)
- [CVE-2013-3658](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-3658/): Path traversal in n/a (critical 9.4)
- [CVE-2012-3288](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-3288/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2008-4281](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-4281/): Path traversal in n/a (critical 9.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2012-1515 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2012-1515 is a high-severity vulnerability in Vmware Esx, published on 2 Apr 2012. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2012-1515 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Vmware Esx. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-1515/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-1515/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2012-1515
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-1515
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2012-1515

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-1515/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.