# CVE-2015-6933: Privilege escalation in n/a

> Guest OS users can escalate privileges or cause denial of service via kernel memory corruption in VMware Tools HGFS implementation.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.3 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 9 Jan 2016
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-gh38-v7fv-5hxj

## What is CVE-2015-6933?

CVE-2015-6933 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Vmware Esxi, published on 9 Jan 2016. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The VMware Tools HGFS (aka Shared Folders) implementation in VMware Workstation 11.x before 11.1.2, VMware Player 7.x before 7.1.2, VMware Fusion 7.x before 7.1.2, and VMware ESXi 5.0 through 6.0 allows Windows guest OS users to gain guest OS privileges or cause a denial of service (guest OS kernel memory corruption) via unspecified vectors.

Weakness: CWE-284 (Improper Access Control)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2015-6933?

It affects 4 products.


Products: Vmware Esxi, Vmware Fusion, Vmware Player, Vmware Workstation.

## How do I fix CVE-2015-6933?

No fix has been published for CVE-2015-6933 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2015-6933 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2015-6933 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Vmware Esxi

- [CVE-2026-41709](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-41709/): Broadcom VMWare ESX Insufficient Logging (low 2.7, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2019-5521](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-5521/): Information disclosure in VMware ESXi (critical 9.6)
- [CVE-2024-22252](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-22252/): Use-after-free vulnerability (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2020-3955](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-3955/): Cross-site scripting in ESXi (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2010-4573](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-4573/): Auth bypass in n/a (critical 9.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2015-6933 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2015-6933 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Vmware Esxi, published on 9 Jan 2016. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2015-6933 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Vmware Esxi. 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-2015-6933/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-6933/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2015-6933
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-6933
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2015-6933

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-6933/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.