Skip to content
Fencer Intel
high 7.8

CVE-2020-3950 kev in the critical feed json

VMware Fusion (11.x before 11.5.2), VMware Remote Console for Mac (11.x and prior before 11.0.1) and Horizon Client for Mac (5.x and prior…

published 6y ago modified 4mo ago also EUVD-2020-25215

cvss
7.8
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Exploited
added 2021-11-03
epss
7.3%
EPSS 7.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 94%
public exploits
3
Metasploit and Exploit-DB

Summary

VMware Fusion (11.x before 11.5.2), VMware Remote Console for Mac (11.x and prior before 11.0.1) and Horizon Client for Mac (5.x and prior before 5.4.0) contain a privilege escalation vulnerability due to improper use of setuid binaries. Successful exploitation of this issue may allow attackers with normal user privileges to escalate their privileges to root on the system where Fusion, VMRC or Horizon Client is installed.

Patch / fix

cisa required action Apply updates per vendor instructions.

  • vmware fusion 11.5.2
  • vmware horizon_client 5.4.0
  • vmware remote_console 11.0.1

Is CVE-2020-3950 in your stack? Fencer shows which of your repositories are affected as soon as an advisory lands, and opens the fix as a pull request.

Check with Fencer

Timeline

  1. First public exploit (Metasploit exploit/osx/local/vmware_fusion_lpe)
  2. Published
  3. Added to CISA KEV
  4. CISA patch deadline
  5. CISA SSVC: exploitation active

Known exploited

Added
5y ago
Patch by
2022-05-03 (4y ago)
Ransomware
Not known
Required action
Apply updates per vendor instructions.
Vendor, product
VMware, Multiple Products
CISA name
VMware Multiple Products Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

CISA SSVC

Exploitation
Active, exploited in the wild
Automatable
no
Technical impact
total
Assessed
last yr.

Exploit prediction

7.25% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 94% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-09).

Exploits and checks

  • Metasploit exploit/osx/local/vmware_fusion_lpe VMware Fusion USB Arbitrator Setuid Privilege Escalation metasploit exploit, excellent rank, 2020-03-17
  • EDB-48337 VMware Fusion - USB Arbitrator Setuid Privilege Escalation (Metasploit) local, 2020-04-16
  • EDB-48235 VMware Fusion 11.5.2 - Privilege Escalation local, 2020-03-20
  • packetstormsecurity.com http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/156843/VMware-Fusion-11.5.2-Privilege-Escalation.html referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified
  • packetstormsecurity.com http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/157079/VMware-Fusion-USB-Arbitrator-Setuid-Privilege-Escalation.html referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CISA ADP 3.1 7.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD 3.1 7.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CNA 3.1 7.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD 2.0 7.2 AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Affected products

  • n/a VMware Fusion, VMware Remote Console for Mac and Horizon Client for Mac

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-269 Improper Privilege Management
Technology feeds

References

Sources

Fencer Intel keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.