# CVE-2023-34057: Privilege escalation in VMware Tools

> A local attacker with user access to a guest virtual machine can elevate privileges within that VM using VMware Tools.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/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:** 27 Oct 2023
- **Updated:** 6 Mar 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-p7vx-hprg-6v5v

## What is CVE-2023-34057?

CVE-2023-34057 is a high-severity vulnerability in VMware Tools, published on 27 Oct 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

VMware Tools contains a local privilege escalation vulnerability. A malicious actor with local user access to a guest virtual machine may elevate privileges within the virtual machine.

Weakness: CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-34057?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Vmware Tools.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-34057?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-34057 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-34057 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-34057 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in VMware Tools

- [CVE-2016-7079](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-7079/): Null dereference in n/a (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2016-7080](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-7080/): Null dereference in n/a (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2022-22977](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-22977/): XML external entity in VMware Tools for Windows (high 7.1)
- [CVE-2019-5522](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-5522/): Information disclosure in VMware Tools for Windows (high 7.1)
- [CVE-2020-3941](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-3941/): Race condition in VMware Tools for Windows (VMware Tools) (high 7.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-34057 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-34057 is a high-severity vulnerability in VMware Tools, published on 27 Oct 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-2023-34057 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: VMware Tools. 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-2023-34057/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-34057/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-34057
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-34057
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-34057

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-34057/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.