# CVE-2017-4946: Privilege escalation in vRealize Operations for Horizon (V4H)

> A low-privileged Windows user can escalate privileges to SYSTEM via the VMware V4H and V4PA desktop agents.

- **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:** 5 Jan 2018
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-g7vg-w39c-g2rp

## What is CVE-2017-4946?

CVE-2017-4946 is a high-severity vulnerability in VMware vRealize Operations for Horizon (V4H), published on 5 Jan 2018. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The VMware V4H and V4PA desktop agents (6.x before 6.5.1) contain a privilege escalation vulnerability. Successful exploitation of this issue could result in a low privileged windows user escalating their privileges to SYSTEM.

Weakness: CWE-863 (Incorrect Authorization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-4946?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Vmware Vrealize Operations for Horizon, Vmware Vrealize Operations for Published Applications.

## How do I fix CVE-2017-4946?

No fix has been published for CVE-2017-4946 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2017-4946 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-4946 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2017-4946 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2017-4946 is a high-severity vulnerability in VMware vRealize Operations for Horizon (V4H), published on 5 Jan 2018. 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-2017-4946 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: VMware vRealize Operations for Horizon (V4H). 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-2017-4946/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-4946/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-4946
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-4946
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2017-4946

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-4946/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.