CVE-2023-34059

open-vm-tools contains a file descriptor hijack vulnerability in the vmware-user-suid-wrapper. A malicious actor with non-root privileges may be able to hijack the /dev/uinput file descriptor allowing them to simulate user inputs.

Published: 2023-10-27 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2023-34059 is rated Moderate Risk (41/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.40%). Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

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-2023-34059

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 0.07% 0.40% +0.33%
2 2025-03-30 0.20% 0.07% -0.12%
3 2025-03-29 — 0.20% —

Full EPSS history (9 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-34059

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.4 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.4 5.9 [email protected]
7.0 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
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:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.0 5.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-34059

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-34059

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2023-34059 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (open-vm-tools), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-34059
redhat high — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-34059
ubuntu medium CVE-2023-34059 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (open-vm-tools), 11 status rows across 11 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, trusty, upstream, xenial): released 8, not-affected 3. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-34059

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-34059

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
vmware open_vm_tools >= 11.0.0, <= 12.3.0 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:open_vm_tools:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 10.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:10.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 11.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 12.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:12.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-34059

URL Tags
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/10/27/2 Mailing List Patch Third Party Advisory
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/10/27/3 Mailing List Third Party Advisory
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/11/26/1
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/11/27/1
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/11/msg00002.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/G7G77Z76CQPGUF7VHRA6O3UFCMPPR4O2/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/MQUOFQL2SNNNMKROQ3TZQY4HEYMNOIBW/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/WLTKVTRKQW2GD2274H3UOW6XU4E62GSK/
https://www.debian.org/security/2023/dsa-5543 Third Party Advisory
https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2023-0024.html Not Applicable
https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/10/27/3
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