# CVE-2020-3980: Privilege escalation in VMware Fusion

> An attacker can trick an admin into executing malicious code via system path configuration, leading to privilege escalation in VMware Fusion.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.7 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/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:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 16 Sep 2020
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-4r3v-pr3q-qvw9

## What is CVE-2020-3980?

CVE-2020-3980 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Vmware Fusion, published on 16 Sep 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

VMware Fusion (11.x) contains a privilege escalation vulnerability due to the way it allows configuring the system wide path. An attacker with normal user privileges may exploit this issue to trick an admin user into executing malicious code on the system where Fusion is installed.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-3980?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Vmware Fusion.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-3980?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-3980 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-3980 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-3980 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## 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-2017-4901](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-4901/): Memory corruption in Fusion Pro / Fusion (critical 9.9)
- [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)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-3980 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-3980 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Vmware Fusion, published on 16 Sep 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-3980 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-2020-3980/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-3980/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-3980
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-3980
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-3980

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-3980/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.