CVE-2017-4938

VMware Workstation (12.x before 12.5.8) and Fusion (8.x before 8.5.9) contain a guest RPC NULL pointer dereference vulnerability. Successful exploitation of this issue may allow attackers with normal user privileges to crash their VMs.

Published: 2017-11-17 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2017-4938 is rated Low Risk (36.2/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.37%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2017-4938

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.05% 0.37% +0.32%
2 2025-03-17 0.05% 0.05% -0.01%
3 2023-03-07 — 0.05% —

Full EPSS history (5 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2017-4938

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.5 3.0 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 2.0 4.0 [email protected]
2.1 2.0 LOW
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 3.9 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2017-4938

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2017-4938

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
vmware workstation 12.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:workstation:12.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware workstation 12.0.1 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:workstation:12.0.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware workstation 12.1 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:workstation:12.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware workstation 12.1.1 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:workstation:12.1.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware workstation 12.5 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:workstation:12.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware workstation 12.5.1 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:workstation:12.5.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware workstation 12.5.2 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:workstation:12.5.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware workstation 12.5.3 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:workstation:12.5.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware workstation 12.5.4 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:workstation:12.5.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware workstation 12.5.5 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:workstation:12.5.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware workstation 12.5.6 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:workstation:12.5.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware workstation 12.5.7 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:workstation:12.5.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware fusion 8.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:fusion:8.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware fusion 8.0.1 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:fusion:8.0.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware fusion 8.0.2 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:fusion:8.0.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware fusion 8.1.0 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:fusion:8.1.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware fusion 8.1.1 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:fusion:8.1.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware fusion 8.5.0 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:fusion:8.5.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware fusion 8.5.1 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:fusion:8.5.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware fusion 8.5.2 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:fusion:8.5.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware fusion 8.5.3 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:fusion:8.5.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware fusion 8.5.4 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:fusion:8.5.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware fusion 8.5.5 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:fusion:8.5.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware fusion 8.5.6 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:fusion:8.5.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware fusion 8.5.7 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:fusion:8.5.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware fusion 8.5.8 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:fusion:8.5.8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2017-4938

URL Tags
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/101887 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1039835 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2017-0018.html Patch Vendor Advisory
cvelogic Threat Intelligence