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Fencer Vulns
medium 6.8

CVE-2024-37085 kev+ ransomware in the critical feed json

VMware ESXi contains an authentication bypass vulnerability.

published 2024-06-25 2 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2024-36416

cvss
6.8
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Exploited
added 2024-07-30, used in ransomware
epss
26.8%
EPSS 26.8% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 98%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

VMware ESXi contains an authentication bypass vulnerability. A malicious actor with sufficient Active Directory (AD) permissions can gain full access to an ESXi host that was previously configured to use AD for user management https://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2012/09/joining-vsphere-hosts-to-active-directory.html by re-creating the configured AD group ('ESXi Admins' by default) after it was deleted from AD.

Patch / fix

cisa required action Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

  • n/a VMware ESXi ESXi80U3-24022510
  • vmware esxi ESXi80U3-24022510
  • vmware cloud_foundation 5.0, 5.2

Timeline

  1. Published
  2. Added to CISA KEV
  3. CISA SSVC: exploitation active
  4. CISA patch deadline

Known exploited

Added
2 y ago
Patch by
2024-08-20 (2 y ago)
Ransomware
Known to be used in ransomware campaigns
Required action
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
Vendor, product
VMware, ESXi
CISA name
VMware ESXi Authentication Bypass Vulnerability

Ransomware

Groups reported to have exploited it in intrusions.

  • Akira ransomware gang
  • BlackBasta ransomware gang
  • BlackByte ransomware gang

reported by microsoft.comblog.talosintelligence.com

Ransomware Vulnerability Matrix by BushidoUK (github.com/BushidoUK/Ransomware-Vulnerability-Matrix), reformatted per CVE. CC BY 4.0

ATT&CK techniques

How it is exploited and what it leads to, in MITRE ATT&CK terms.

  • T1078 Valid Accounts exploitation
  • T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation primary impact
  • T1608.001 Upload Malware secondary impact

kev release 2025-07-28, att&ck v16.1. KEV to ATT&CK mappings by the MITRE Center for Threat-Informed Defense (Mappings Explorer, Apache-2.0). © 2026 The MITRE Corporation. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of The MITRE Corporation. Terms of use

CISA SSVC

Exploitation
Active, exploited in the wild
Automatable
no
Technical impact
total
Assessed
2 y ago

Exploit prediction

26.77% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 98% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 6.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD 3.1 7.2 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected products

  • n/a VMware ESXi
  • n/a VMware Cloud Foundation
  • vmware esxi
  • vmware cloud_foundation

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-305 Authentication Bypass by Primary Weakness
  • CWE-287 Improper Authentication
Technology feeds

References

Sources

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.