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Full vulnerability report · 2025
CVE-2025-22247High confidence

Insecure file handling vulnerability

Unknown · VMware Tools

6.1MediumCVSS 3.1
Recommended action
Scheduled

Medium technical severity with no CISA KEV confirmation; remediate through the normal risk-based patch cycle unless local exposure raises the priority.

Patch available
R
Operational reassessment

Published severity in operational context

Open reassessment dashboard →
Published severityMediumOperational priority:Low, lowered one band.downgradedsince 18 Nov 2025

Evidence used

  • No CISA KEV confirmation is currently recorded.
  • Exploitation requires an existing local or physical foothold with privileges.
  • EPSS is 0.27% for the current model date.

Compensating controls

  • Validate the affected product branch and deploy the verified fixed release.
  • Restrict local access and enforce least privilege on affected hosts.
  • Monitor vendor guidance and exploitation sources for a material change.

Verification

  1. Confirm that the asset runs Unknown VMware Tools and falls inside the recorded affected range.
  2. Verify the installed build against the product-specific fixed version after deployment.
  3. Validate exposure, authentication requirements and compensating controls in the actual environment.
  4. Reopen this reassessment when CVSS, KEV, EPSS, exploit evidence or remediation changes.
Mitigation target: No default targetRemediation target: Normal maintenance

This automated reassessment organises public evidence. It does not know asset exposure, business impact or control effectiveness and does not replace CVSS or a human risk decision.

Distribution package intelligence

Release-specific package status

Debian, ubuntu findings are scoped to the named distribution, release and source package. An absent finding does not mean a package is unaffected.

5 package states
Repository candidate not checked

A published vendor fix does not prove that a matching update is enabled and installable on a particular asset. Confirm the local package candidate before scheduling remediation.

Distribution releaseSource packageVendor stateFixed versionEvidence
Debian trixietrixie · sourceopen-vm-toolsVendor fix publishedDebian records a fixed source-package version for this release.2:12.5.0-2Debian Security Tracker ↗Source updated 5 Oct 2026
Debian bookwormbookworm · sourceopen-vm-toolsVendor fix publishedDebian records a fixed source-package version for this release.2:12.2.0-1+deb12u3Debian Security Tracker ↗Source updated 5 Oct 2026
Debian forkyforky · sourceopen-vm-toolsVendor fix publishedDebian records a fixed source-package version for this release.2:12.5.0-2Debian Security Tracker ↗Source updated 5 Oct 2026
Debian sidsid · sourceopen-vm-toolsVendor fix publishedDebian records a fixed source-package version for this release.2:12.5.0-2Debian Security Tracker ↗Source updated 5 Oct 2026
Ubuntu 24.04 LTSnoble · standard archiveopen-vm-toolsVendor fix publishedCanonical reports that a fixed source package version has been published. Repository candidate availability is not checked by BlackTree.2:12.4.5-1~ubuntu0.24.04.2Canonical Ubuntu Security ↗Source updated 5 Oct 2026
Direct vendor intelligence

Authoritative vendor CSAF and VEX advisories

Structured product status and remediation from the issuing vendor. Product-state explanations are always visible; large lists can be searched or downloaded.

1 current
CVE-2025-22247 · CSAF 2.0 · revision 3 · finalRed Hat Product Securityopen-vm-tools: Insecure file handling
13 known affected

The vendor explicitly identifies these products as affected by this CVE.

  • open-vm-tools as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
  • open-vm-tools-desktop as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
  • open-vm-tools-salt-minion as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
  • open-vm-tools-sdmp as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
  • open-vm-tools-test as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
  • open-vm-tools.src as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
  • open-vm-tools as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
  • open-vm-tools-desktop as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
  • open-vm-tools-devel as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
  • open-vm-tools-test as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
  • open-vm-tools.src as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
  • openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-8 as a component of Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4
Summary
A vulnerability was found in open-vm-tools. A malicious actor with non-administrative privileges on a guest virtual machine (VM) may tamper with the local files to trigger insecure file operations within that VM.
Remediation
For details on how to apply this update, which includes the changes described in this advisory, refer to: https://access.redhat.com/articles/11258
Optional official sources

National CERT insights
?CERT means Computer Emergency Response Team; CSIRT is the closely related term Computer Security Incident Response Team.

Choose official national sources for this report. Each advisory shows its original language. Your selection is remembered on this device and included in shared links.

Official European source

ENISA European Vulnerability Database

Official EUVD identifiers, advisory evidence and known-exploited context. Missing fields are not treated as evidence of low risk.

1 current
ENISA EUVD identifier

EUVD-2025-14280

No EUVD known-exploited evidence

ENISA has published the identifier mapping but no EUVD description has been stored yet.

EUVD state
Present in the current official mapping
Known exploitation
Not present in the current ENISA EUVD known-exploited dataset. This is not proof of no exploitation.
ENISA score
Not supplied in the stored EUVD record
Advisory evidence
No linked advisory details stored yet
Recommended actionScheduled

Medium technical severity with no CISA KEV confirmation; remediate through the normal risk-based patch cycle unless local exposure raises the priority.

Patch available
01

What, why and how

VMware Tools contains an insecure file handling vulnerability. A malicious actor with non-administrative privileges on a guest VM may tamper the local files to trigger insecure file operations within that VM.

What

VMware Tools contains an insecure file handling vulnerability. A malicious actor with non-administrative privileges on a guest VM may tamper the local files to trigger insecure file operations within that VM.

Why

The product attempts to access a file based on the filename, but it does not properly prevent that filename from identifying a link or shortcut that resolves to an unintended resource.

How

An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation with low privileges. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.

What

VMware Tools contains an insecure file handling vulnerability. A malicious actor with non-administrative privileges on a guest VM may tamper the local files to trigger insecure file operations within that VM.

Why

The product attempts to access a file based on the filename, but it does not properly prevent that filename from identifying a link or shortcut that resolves to an unintended resource.

How

An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation with low privileges. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.

02

Exploit reality and attack path

CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.

Observed exploitation
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
No confirmed evidence

No CISA KEV match was present at the last successful refresh. This means no confirmation from that source, not proof of no exploitation.

Public PoC / exploit material
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
None recorded

No exploit-tagged reference or CISA SSVC proof-of-concept state is currently recorded. Research may still exist outside the structured feeds.

Likely attack path
local access → Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following') → cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor
Attack surface
Local
Privileges required
Low: a basic authenticated account is required
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low: no specialised conditions are recorded
Security boundary
Unchanged: impact remains within the vulnerable component's security authority
Weakness
?CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness.
CWE-59 ↗

CWE-59: Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following'). The product attempts to access a file based on the filename, but it does not properly prevent that filename from identifying a link or shortcut that resolves to an unintended resource.

CVSS vector
?CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:N

Common Vulnerability Scoring System 3.1: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.

AVLocalAttack vector: The attacker needs local access to the vulnerable system.ACLowAttack complexity: No specialised conditions are required beyond attacker-controlled input.PRLowPrivileges required: The attacker needs basic user-level privileges.UINoneUser interaction: No action by another user is required.SUnchangedScope: The security impact remains within the vulnerable component's authority.CLowConfidentiality impact: A successful attack can cause a limited loss.IHighIntegrity impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.ANoneAvailability impact: No direct loss is represented by this metric.
Post-exploitation / living off the land
The issue can support a local privilege or sandbox boundary transition; normal system utilities may then be available in the gained context.
CWE-59
A

Official authority intelligence

Only matched European and national findings are included. Language selectors and unavailable sources are omitted.

BSI · German · WID-SEC-2025-1439Dell Secure Connect Gateway: Mehrere Schwachstellen ermöglichen nicht spezifizierten Angriff

Ein Angreifer kann mehrere Schwachstellen in Dell Secure Connect Gateway ausnutzen, um einen nicht näher spezifizierten Angriff durchzuführen.

Official advisory ↗
BSI · German · WID-SEC-2025-1000VMware Tools: Schwachstelle ermöglicht Manipulation von Dateien

Ein lokaler Angreifer kann eine Schwachstelle in VMware Tools ausnutzen, um Dateien zu manipulieren.

Official advisory ↗
CERT-FR · French · CERTFR-2025-AVI-0389Vulnérabilité dans les produits VMware

Une vulnérabilité a été découverte dans les produits VMware. Elle permet à un attaquant de provoquer un contournement de la politique de sécurité.

Official advisory ↗
03

Patch and workaround

Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.

Status
?Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change.
Patch available
Affected
Fixed
Action
For details on how to apply this update, which includes the changes described in this advisory, refer to: https://access.redhat.com/articles/11258
Workaround
No verified workaround is recorded. Limit untrusted access and use least privilege until authoritative guidance is available.
04

Evidence and provenance

Published 12 May 2025 · Last source change 18 Nov 2025, 20:05 UTC · CWE-59 · Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')

CVE recordCVE.org · 5.2
CVSS sourceCNA
EPSS source
?The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.
FIRST · tracked since 2026-08-14
European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2025-14280
Product sourceVendor CSAF · Red Hat Product Security
Remediation sourceVendor CSAF · Red Hat Product Security
CWE sourceCNA
NVD statusNVD not scheduled

Missing structured fields: affected product. Missing data is not evidence of low risk; review the primary advisory.

Material change intelligence

What changed after publication

View recent updates ↗
  1. Affected versionsThe structured affected or fixed version information changed.
    Before
    12.x.x, 11.x.x < 12.5.2 · Fixed: No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
    After
    12.x.x, 11.x.x < 12.5.2 · Fixed: For details on how to apply this update, which includes the changes described in this advisory, refer to: https://access.redhat.com/articles/11258
    Red Hat Product Security ↗
  2. Remediation statusRemediation status changed from Awaiting fix to Patch available.
    Before
    Awaiting fix
    After
    Patch available
    Red Hat Product Security ↗
  3. Affected versionsThe structured affected or fixed version information changed.
    Before
    open-vm-tools as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; open-vm-tools-desktop as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; open-vm-tools-salt-minion as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; open-vm-tools-sdmp as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; open-vm-tools-test as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; open-vm-tools.src as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; open-vm-tools as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7; open-vm-tools-desktop as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7; open-vm-tools-devel as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7; open-vm-tools-test as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7; open-vm-tools.src as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7; openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-9 as a component of Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 · Fixed: open-vm-tools-0:12.3.5-2.el8_10.2.src as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8); open-vm-tools-0:12.3.5-2.el8_10.2.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8); open-vm-tools-debuginfo-0:12.3.5-2.el8_10.2.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8); open-vm-tools-debugsource-0:12.3.5-2.el8_10.2.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8); open-vm-tools-desktop-0:12.3.5-2.el8_10.2.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8); open-vm-tools-desktop-debuginfo-0:12.3.5-2.el8_10.2.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8); open-vm-tools-salt-minion-0:12.3.5-2.el8_10.2.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8); open-vm-tools-sdmp-0:12.3.5-2.el8_10.2.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8); open-vm-tools-sdmp-debuginfo-0:12.3.5-2.el8_10.2.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8); open-vm-tools-test-debuginfo-0:12.3.5-2.el8_10.2.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8); open-vm-tools-0:13.0.0-1.el9_7.1.aarch64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9); open-vm-tools-0:13.0.0-1.el9_7.1.src as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9); open-vm-tools-0:13.0.0-1.el9_7.1.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9); open-vm-tools-debuginfo-0:13.0.0-1.el9_7.1.aarch64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9); open-vm-tools-debuginfo-0:13.0.0-1.el9_7.1.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9); open-vm-tools-debugsource-0:13.0.0-1.el9_7.1.aarch64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9); open-vm-tools-debugsource-0:13.0.0-1.el9_7.1.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9); open-vm-tools-desktop-0:13.0.0-1.el9_7.1.aarch64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9); open-vm-tools-desktop-0:13.0.0-1.el9_7.1.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9); open-vm-tools-desktop-debuginfo-0:13.0.0-1.el9_7.1.aarch64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9); open-vm-tools-desktop-debuginfo-0:13.0.0-1.el9_7.1.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9); open-vm-tools-salt-minion-0:13.0.0-1.el9_7.1.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9); open-vm-tools-sdmp-0:13.0.0-1.el9_7.1.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9); open-vm-tools-sdmp-debuginfo-0:13.0.0-1.el9_7.1.aarch64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9); open-vm-tools-sdmp-debuginfo-0:13.0.0-1.el9_7.1.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9); open-vm-tools-test-0:13.0.0-1.el9_7.1.aarch64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9); open-vm-tools-test-0:13.0.0-1.el9_7.1.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9); open-vm-tools-test-debuginfo-0:13.0.0-1.el9_7.1.aarch64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9); open-vm-tools-test-debuginfo-0:13.0.0-1.el9_7.1.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9)
    After
    open-vm-tools as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; open-vm-tools-desktop as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; open-vm-tools-salt-minion as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; open-vm-tools-sdmp as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; open-vm-tools-test as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; open-vm-tools.src as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; open-vm-tools as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7; open-vm-tools-desktop as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7; open-vm-tools-devel as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7; open-vm-tools-test as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7; open-vm-tools.src as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7; openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-8 as a component of Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4; openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-9 as a component of Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 · Fixed: open-vm-tools-0:12.3.5-2.el8_10.2.src as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8); open-vm-tools-0:12.3.5-2.el8_10.2.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8); open-vm-tools-debuginfo-0:12.3.5-2.el8_10.2.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8); open-vm-tools-debugsource-0:12.3.5-2.el8_10.2.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8); open-vm-tools-desktop-0:12.3.5-2.el8_10.2.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8); open-vm-tools-desktop-debuginfo-0:12.3.5-2.el8_10.2.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8); open-vm-tools-salt-minion-0:12.3.5-2.el8_10.2.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8); open-vm-tools-sdmp-0:12.3.5-2.el8_10.2.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8); open-vm-tools-sdmp-debuginfo-0:12.3.5-2.el8_10.2.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8); open-vm-tools-test-debuginfo-0:12.3.5-2.el8_10.2.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8); open-vm-tools-0:13.0.0-1.el9_7.1.aarch64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9); open-vm-tools-0:13.0.0-1.el9_7.1.src as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9); open-vm-tools-0:13.0.0-1.el9_7.1.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9); open-vm-tools-debuginfo-0:13.0.0-1.el9_7.1.aarch64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9); open-vm-tools-debuginfo-0:13.0.0-1.el9_7.1.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9); open-vm-tools-debugsource-0:13.0.0-1.el9_7.1.aarch64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9); open-vm-tools-debugsource-0:13.0.0-1.el9_7.1.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9); open-vm-tools-desktop-0:13.0.0-1.el9_7.1.aarch64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9); open-vm-tools-desktop-0:13.0.0-1.el9_7.1.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9); open-vm-tools-desktop-debuginfo-0:13.0.0-1.el9_7.1.aarch64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9); open-vm-tools-desktop-debuginfo-0:13.0.0-1.el9_7.1.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9); open-vm-tools-salt-minion-0:13.0.0-1.el9_7.1.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9); open-vm-tools-sdmp-0:13.0.0-1.el9_7.1.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9); open-vm-tools-sdmp-debuginfo-0:13.0.0-1.el9_7.1.aarch64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9); open-vm-tools-sdmp-debuginfo-0:13.0.0-1.el9_7.1.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9); open-vm-tools-test-0:13.0.0-1.el9_7.1.aarch64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9); open-vm-tools-test-0:13.0.0-1.el9_7.1.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9); open-vm-tools-test-debuginfo-0:13.0.0-1.el9_7.1.aarch64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9); open-vm-tools-test-debuginfo-0:13.0.0-1.el9_7.1.x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9)
    Red Hat Product Security ↗
Material fields only · duplicate refreshes suppressed · history retained for the configured operational retention period
CVE published
Fixed release recorded from official guidance
ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2025-14280↗Red Hat Product Security security advisory↗CVE authority or vendor reference↗Official CVE record (CNA and ADP data)↗NVD record↗
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
CVE
Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
CVSS
Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
EPSS
Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
CWE
Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
CNA
CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
CISA ADP
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
NVD
National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
CERT / CSIRT
A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
PoC
Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
CSAF
Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
LoTL
Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.
Free version - for non-commercial use only.CVE-2025-22247 · cve.blacktree.nl