# CVE-2013-1662: Privilege escalation in n/a

> Local attackers can gain host OS privileges by placing a malicious lsb_release binary in the PATH, affecting VMware Workstation and Player on Debian systems.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.9 (`AV:L/AC:M/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:** 24 Aug 2013
- **Updated:** 17 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-xx33-73cr-ffp7

## What is CVE-2013-1662?

CVE-2013-1662 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Vmware Player, published on 24 Aug 2013. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

vmware-mount in VMware Workstation 8.x and 9.x and VMware Player 4.x and 5.x, on systems based on Debian GNU/Linux, allows host OS users to gain host OS privileges via a crafted lsb_release binary in a directory in the PATH, related to use of the popen library function.

Weakness: CWE-264

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2013-1662?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Vmware Player, Vmware Workstation.

## How do I fix CVE-2013-1662?

No fix has been published for CVE-2013-1662 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2013-1662 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2013-1662 exists.

Public exploit code:

- VMware - Setuid VMware-mount Popen lsb_release Privilege Escalation (exploitdb)
- VMWare Setuid vmware-mount Unsafe popen(3) (metasploit)
- VMware - Setuid VMware-mount Unsafe popen(3) (Metasploit) (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in Vmware Player

- [CVE-2007-5617](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2007-5617/): Denial of service in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2016-2077](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-2077/): Privilege escalation in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2012-5458](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-5458/): Privilege escalation in n/a (high 8.3)
- [CVE-2012-5459](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-5459/): Privilege escalation in n/a (high 7.9)
- [CVE-2013-5972](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-5972/): Privilege escalation in n/a (high 7.2)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2013-1662 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2013-1662 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Vmware Player, published on 24 Aug 2013. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2013-1662 exists.

Affected product: Vmware Player. 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-2013-1662/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-1662/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2013-1662
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2013-1662
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2013-1662

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-1662/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.