# CVE-2017-4943: Privilege escalation in vCenter Server Appliance (vCSA)

> A local privilege escalation vulnerability in VMware vCenter Server Appliance allows low-privileged users to gain root access via the showlog plugin.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **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:** 20 Dec 2017
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-4262-ffcv-r365

## What is CVE-2017-4943?

CVE-2017-4943 is a high-severity vulnerability in Vmware Vcenter Server, published on 20 Dec 2017. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

VMware vCenter Server Appliance (vCSA) (6.5 before 6.5 U1d) contains a local privilege escalation vulnerability via the 'showlog' plugin. Successful exploitation of this issue could result in a low privileged user gaining root level privileges over the appliance base OS.

Weakness: CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-4943?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Vmware Vcenter Server.

## How do I fix CVE-2017-4943?

No fix has been published for CVE-2017-4943 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2017-4943 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-4943 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Vmware Vcenter Server

- [CVE-2026-59310](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-59310/): Broadcom VMware vCenter Path Traversal (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2023-34048](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-34048/): VMware vCenter Server Out-of-Bounds Write (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2020-3952](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-3952/): VMware vCenter Server Information Disclosure (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2021-22017](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-22017/): VMware vCenter Server Improper Access Control (medium 5.3, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2015-2342](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-2342/): Code injection in n/a (critical 10.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2017-4943 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2017-4943 is a high-severity vulnerability in Vmware Vcenter Server, published on 20 Dec 2017. 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-2017-4943 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Vmware Vcenter Server. 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-2017-4943/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-4943/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-4943
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-4943
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2017-4943

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-4943/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.