# CVE-2017-4901: Memory corruption in Fusion Pro / Fusion

> A guest VM can execute arbitrary code on the host OS via an out-of-bounds memory access in the drag-and-drop feature.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.9 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **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:** 8 Jun 2017
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-8xg8-8x73-gmmx

## What is CVE-2017-4901?

CVE-2017-4901 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in Vmware Fusion, published on 8 Jun 2017. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The drag-and-drop (DnD) function in VMware Workstation 12.x before version 12.5.4 and Fusion 8.x before version 8.5.5 has an out-of-bounds memory access vulnerability. This may allow a guest to execute code on the operating system that runs Workstation or Fusion.

Weakness: CWE-119 (Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-4901?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Vmware Fusion, Vmware Workstation.

## How do I fix CVE-2017-4901?

No fix has been published for CVE-2017-4901 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2017-4901 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-4901 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code:

- VMware WorkStation 12.5.5 - Virtual Machine Escape (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in Vmware Fusion

- [CVE-2020-3950](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-3950/): VMware Multiple Products Privilege Escalation (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-22267](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-22267/): Use after free in VMware Fusion (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2019-5541](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-5541/): Memory corruption in Workstation and Fusion (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2024-38811](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-38811/): Code-execution vulnerability (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2023-20872](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20872/): Memory corruption in VMware Workstation Pro / Player (Workstation) and VMware Fusion (high 8.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2017-4901 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2017-4901 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in Vmware Fusion, published on 8 Jun 2017. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-4901 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Vmware Fusion. 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-2017-4901/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-4901/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-4901
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-4901
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2017-4901

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-4901/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.