CVE-2025-22224

Exp

VMware ESXi, and Workstation contain a TOCTOU (Time-of-Check Time-of-Use) vulnerability that leads to an out-of-bounds write. A malicious actor with local administrative privileges on a virtual machine may exploit this issue to execute code as the virtual machine's VMX process running on the host.

Published: 2025-03-04 Last update: 2025-10-30 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2025-22224 is rated Critical Active Threat (95.8/100): CVSS Critical severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 46.80%, 98th percentile). CISA KEV confirms active exploitation (added 2025-03-04) affecting VMware / ESXi and Workstation. a weakness (CWE-367) Unauthenticated remote administrative access may be possible. The CISA remediation deadline has passed—treat as an emergency patch priority.

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

CISA KEV Record for CVE-2025-22224

Name: VMware ESXi and Workstation TOCTOU Race Condition Vulnerability · CISA KEV detail

Exploit added: 2025-03-04

Action due: 2025-03-25

Required action: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2025-22224

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 2026-06-09 47.39% 46.80% -0.59%
2 2026-05-27 46.80% 47.39% +0.59%
3 2026-05-23 — 46.80% —

Full EPSS history (50 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-22224

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.3 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/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:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
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:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
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.
 2.5 6.0 [email protected]
8.2 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/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:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:H)
They need powerful rights—admin, root, or similar—before this pays off.
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: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.
 1.5 6.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2025-22224

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-22224

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:beta:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_1:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_1a:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_1b:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_1c:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_1d:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_1e:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_2:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_2a:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_2c:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_2d:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_2e:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_3:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_3c:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_3d:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_3e:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_3f:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_3g:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_3i:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_3j:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_3k:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_3l:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_3m:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_3n:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_3o:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_3p:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_3q:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_3r:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:8.0:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:8.0:a:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:8.0:b:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:8.0:c:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:8.0:update_1:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:8.0:update_1a:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:8.0:update_1c:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:8.0:update_1d:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:8.0:update_2:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:8.0:update_2b:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:8.0:update_2c:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:8.0:update_3:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:8.0:update_3b:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:8.0:update_3c:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware cloud_foundation — cpe:2.3:a:vmware:cloud_foundation:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware telco_cloud_infrastructure 2.2 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:telco_cloud_infrastructure:2.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware telco_cloud_infrastructure 2.5 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:telco_cloud_infrastructure:2.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware telco_cloud_infrastructure 2.7 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:telco_cloud_infrastructure:2.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware telco_cloud_infrastructure 3.0 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:telco_cloud_infrastructure:3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware telco_cloud_platform 2.0 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:telco_cloud_platform:2.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware telco_cloud_platform 2.5 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:telco_cloud_platform:2.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware telco_cloud_platform 2.7 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:telco_cloud_platform:2.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware telco_cloud_platform 3.0 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:telco_cloud_platform:3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware telco_cloud_platform 4.0 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:telco_cloud_platform:4.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware telco_cloud_platform 4.0.1 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:telco_cloud_platform:4.0.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware telco_cloud_platform 5.0 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:telco_cloud_platform:5.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware workstation >= 17.0, < 17.6.3 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:workstation:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2025-22224

cvelogic Threat Intelligence