Directory traversal vulnerability in VMware Server 1.x before 1.0.10 build 203137 and 2.x before 2.0.2 build 203138 on Linux, VMware ESXi 3…

published 2009-11-02 17 y ago modified 2026-06-16 4 mo ago also EUVD-2009-3705

cvss: 5.0; version 2.0, NVD
cisa kev: Not listed; not in CISA's catalog
epss: 83.4%; EPSS 83.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 99.6%
public exploits: 2; Metasploit, Exploit-DB

Directory traversal vulnerability in VMware Server 1.x before 1.0.10 build 203137 and 2.x before 2.0.2 build 203138 on Linux, VMware ESXi 3.5, and VMware ESX 3.0.3 and 3.5 allows remote attackers to read arbitrary files via unspecified vectors.

Patch / fix

links 3

vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/3062 advisory
lists.vmware.com/pipermail/security-announce/2009/000069.html advisory
vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2009-0015.html advisory

Timeline

2009-10-27 First public exploit (EDB-33310)
2009-11-02 Published

Exploit prediction

83.38% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 99.6% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

Exploits and checks

Metasploit auxiliary/scanner/vmware/vmware_server_dir_trav VMware Server Directory Traversal Vulnerability metasploit auxiliary, normal rank
EDB-33310 VMware Server 2.0.1 / ESXi Server 3.5 - Directory Traversal remote, 2009-10-27

CVSS scores

assigned by	version	score	vector
NVD	2.0	5.0	AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N

Classification

Weakness

CWE-22 Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory

Technology feeds

VMware rss critical rss

References

vupen.com /english/advisories/2009/3062
vdb-entry, patch, vendor-advisory
lists.vmware.com /pipermail/security-announce/2009/000069.html
mailing-list, patch, vendor-advisory
vmware.com /security/advisories/VMSA-2009-0015.html
patch, vendor-advisory
security.gentoo.org /glsa/glsa-201209-25.xml
vendor-advisory, third-party-advisory
oval.cisecurity.org /repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A7822
vdb-entry, signature, third-party-advisory
securitytracker.com /id?1023089
vdb-entry, third-party-advisory
securityfocus.com /bid/36842
vdb-entry, third-party-advisory
secunia.com /advisories/37186
third-party-advisory, broken-link
securityfocus.com /archive/1/507523/100/0/threaded
mailing-list, third-party-advisory, vdb-entry
securitytracker.com /id?1023088
vdb-entry, third-party-advisory

Sources

CVE List CVE-2009-3733
NVD CVE-2009-3733

Fencer Vulns 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.

Summary