# CVE-2023-34043: Privilege escalation in VMware Aria Operations

> A local attacker with administrative access can escalate privileges to root in VMware Aria Operations.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.7 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 26 Sep 2023
- **Updated:** 24 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-535x-q4gm-f2m7

## What is CVE-2023-34043?

CVE-2023-34043 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Vmware Cloud Foundation, published on 26 Sep 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

VMware Aria Operations contains a local privilege escalation vulnerability. A malicious actor with administrative access to the local system can escalate privileges to 'root'.

Weakness: CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-34043?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Vmware Aria Operations, Vmware Cloud Foundation.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-34043?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-34043 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-34043 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-34043 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Vmware Cloud Foundation

- [CVE-2026-22719](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-22719/): Broadcom VMware Aria Operations Command Injection (high 8.1, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-41722](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-41722/): Cross-site scripting in VCF operations (high 8.0)
- [CVE-2026-41723](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-41723/): Cross-site scripting in VCF operations (high 8.0)
- [CVE-2026-41724](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-41724/): Cross-site scripting in VCF operations (high 8.0)
- [CVE-2026-22720](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-22720/): VMware Aria Operations stored cross-site scripting vulnerability (high 8.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-34043 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-34043 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Vmware Cloud Foundation, published on 26 Sep 2023. 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-2023-34043 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Vmware Cloud Foundation. 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-2023-34043/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-34043/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-34043
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-34043
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-34043

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-34043/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.