From Guest to Infrastructure: Understanding the Risks in VMSA-2025-0015

Introduction

On September 29, 2025, VMware (via Broadcom) published VMSA-2025-0015, which addresses three vulnerabilities in VMware Aria Operations and VMware Tools (CVE-2025-41244, CVE-2025-41245, CVE-2025-41246). This is the initial publication of the advisory. It rates these issues as Important / High severity, with CVSSv3 base scores ranging from 4.9 to 7.8. Affected products include VMware Aria Operations, VMware Tools, VMware Cloud Foundation, VMware Telco Cloud Platform, and VMware Telco Cloud Infrastructure.

Because these products are central to monitoring, analytics, and guest management across VMware environments, the vulnerabilities have architectural implications that require attention from both operations and security teams.

What Is It?

VMSA-2025-0015 documents three distinct vulnerabilities:

CVE-2025-41244 — Local privilege escalationThis flaw exists in environments where VMware Tools is installed, and Aria Operations has SDMP enabled. A local, non-admin user within a guest VM may escalate privileges to root inside that VM.

CVE-2025-41245 — Information disclosure in Aria OperationsA non-administrative Aria Operations user can access credentials of other Aria users. This violates separation of duties and introduces credential reuse risks.

CVE-2025-41246 — Improper authorization in VMware Tools (Windows only)A non-admin user in a Windows guest VM can access other guest VMs if they already know the target credentials and are authenticated through vCenter or ESX. Linux and macOS guests are explicitly unaffected.

Fixed versions provided by Broadcom:

·       Aria Operations 8.18.5

·       VMware Tools 13.0.5.0 or 12.5.4, with note [1] that 12.4.9 (part of 12.5.4) addresses Windows 32-bit; note [2] clarifies that open-vm-tools fixes will ship via Linux vendors

·       VCF Operations 9.0.1.0

The advisory’s Response Matrix should be consulted directly to map your deployed product versions to the corresponding fixes. There are no workarounds for any of the three vulnerabilities.

Why Does It Matter?

These vulnerabilities matter for three primary reasons:

·       Ubiquity of deployment. VMware Tools is nearly universal across guest VMs, and Aria Operations is widely deployed for monitoring and automation.

·       Privilege escalation. CVE-2025-41244 enables a non-admin user in a VM to escalate to root if Aria SDMP is enabled, creating full compromise of that VM.

·       Credential exposure. CVE-2025-41245 allows a non-admin Aria user to disclose other users’ credentials, enabling lateral movement.

·       Cross-VM lateral movement. CVE-2025-41246 allows a Windows guest compromise to spill over into other VMs, provided the attacker already holds target credentials and vCenter/ESX context. Linux and macOS guests are unaffected.

·       No mitigations short of patching. The advisory explicitly states there are no configuration workarounds.

The variation in CVSS scores (4.9 to 7.8) reflects differences in attack vectors and required privileges. Some flaws need an authenticated user with specific context, while others expose credentials with only low-level Aria access.

Because the vulnerabilities span both in-guest agents (Tools) and management layers (Aria Operations), they undermine privilege boundaries that administrators often assume are intact.

Risk Scenarios

Scenario A: Privilege escalation within a guest VM (CVE-2025-41244)

Description and preconditionsA local, non-administrative user inside a guest VM exploits CVE-2025-41244 to escalate to root inside that VM. Preconditions are that VMware Tools is installed in the VM and that Aria Operations has SDMP enabled against that VM.

Attacker feasibilityVMware Tools is widely deployed, and SDMP is common in organizations that use Aria for software deployment. Obtaining a non-admin foothold in a VM is a realistic attacker step, achievable through phishing, vulnerable applications, or weak credentials.

LikelihoodModerate in environments that use Aria SDMP; low where SDMP is disabled or tightly controlled.

ImpactHigh, yielding full control of the guest, access to secrets, and persistence.

Detection difficultyMedium to high. Many enterprises lack strong EDR telemetry inside all VM classes.

Short mitigationsPatch Tools and Aria promptly, restrict SDMP usage, and enhance guest monitoring.

Scenario B: Credential disclosure in Aria Operations (CVE-2025-41245)

Description and preconditionsA non-administrative Aria user retrieves credentials of other Aria users.

Attacker feasibilityLow-privilege Aria accounts are common. Attackers can obtain such access through phishing or credential reuse.

LikelihoodModerate to high in environments with many operator accounts; low in organizations with MFA and strict role controls.

ImpactModerate to high, depending on how exposed credentials are reused across management systems.

Detection difficultyMedium. Credential access may blend into normal Aria activity unless anomaly detection is in place.

Short mitigationsEnforce MFA, least privilege, and credential rotation. Instrument Aria logs for unusual cross-account access.

Scenario C: Cross-guest lateral movement on Windows (CVE-2025-41246)

Description and preconditionsA non-admin user in a Windows guest abuses improper authorization in VMware Tools to reach other VMs. Preconditions: the attacker is authenticated in the guest, knows valid credentials for target VMs, and operates in a vCenter/ESX-managed environment. Linux and macOS are unaffected.

Attacker feasibilityRequires multiple conditions: foothold in one guest, valid credentials for others, and Tools in use. The most challenging condition is obtaining valid credentials for the targeted VMs, which makes this scenario less likely than privilege escalation or Aria credential disclosure. However, in enterprises with credential reuse or weak password hygiene, this barrier is lower.

LikelihoodLow to moderate overall, higher in environments with poor credential practices.

ImpactHigh, due to lateral compromise of additional VMs.

Detection difficultyHigh, as inter-VM access may appear legitimate unless management traffic is closely correlated with user session context.

Short mitigationsPatch Tools, rotate credentials, enforce PAM for admin accounts, and enhance correlation rules to detect anomalous inter-VM access.

Scenario D: Multi-step chained compromise

Description and preconditionsAn attacker combines the vulnerabilities. For example, compromise a low-privilege Aria account, use CVE-2025-41245 to harvest credentials, then exploit CVE-2025-41244 or CVE-2025-41246 to escalate and pivot across guests.

Attacker feasibilityModerate. The chain is complex but realistic given overlapping management planes and credential reuse.

LikelihoodModerate in large environments with broad account footprints; low in highly segmented infrastructures.

ImpactCritical, allowing conversion of one VM compromise into broad infrastructure control.

Detection difficultyVery high without integrated telemetry across Aria, vCenter, and guest EDR.

Short mitigationsPatch all components, enforce least privilege and MFA, minimize long-lived privileged accounts, and correlate logs across planes.

Feasibility summary

The most immediate risks are Aria credential disclosure and guest privilege escalation with SDMP enabled. Cross-guest lateral movement is harder to achieve but potentially severe in Windows-heavy estates with weak credential hygiene. Multi-step chained attacks represent the most dangerous outcome, justifying prompt patching and hardening across both the guest and management planes.

What Can I Do About It?

Because there are no workarounds, remediation requires patching and supporting controls:

1.        Patch to fixed versions

o   Aria Operations to 8.18.5

o   VCF Operations to 9.0.1.0

o   VMware Tools to 13.0.5.0 or 12.5.4 (with 12.4.9 included for Windows 32-bit; Linux fixes via vendor open-vm-tools)

2.        Validate SDMP usageReview where Aria’s SDMP is enabled. Restrict or disable it if not strictly required.

3.        Credential managementAudit Aria accounts for least privilege. Rotate exposed credentials and minimize reuse.

4.        Testing and rollout disciplineStage updates in non-production, validate compatibility, and prepare rollback plans.

5.        Segmentation and monitoringUse network and management plane segmentation. Monitor for abnormal privilege escalations, credential disclosures, and VM-to-VM traffic.

Note: The advisory confirms there are no configuration-based workarounds for any of these vulnerabilities. Patching is the only effective remediation path.

Conclusion: Bottom Line

VMSA-2025-0015 highlights how vulnerabilities in management layers and in-guest tools can combine to erode expected privilege boundaries. The three CVEs enable privilege escalation, credential theft, and lateral VM compromise under realistic conditions, especially in Windows environments with Aria SDMP enabled.

From a prioritization standpoint, organizations should first focus on CVE-2025-41245 (Aria credential disclosure) and CVE-2025-41244 (guest privilege escalation with SDMP), as these are the most feasible entry points for attackers in typical enterprise deployments. Next, address CVE-2025-41246 (cross-guest access on Windows), which is less likely in isolation but dangerous when combined with weak credential practices. Finally, recognize the potential for multi-step chained exploitation, which represents the most severe outcome: converting a single foothold into broad VMware infrastructure compromise.

There are no mitigations beyond patching. Administrators should treat these updates as a priority, reinforce least privilege in Aria, enforce strong credential hygiene, segment their environments, and maintain visibility for signs of exploitation. Align patching windows across Aria, VMware Tools, and Cloud Foundation components to ensure attackers cannot exploit gaps in coverage.

References

·       VMware / Broadcom VMSA-2025-0015 advisory (September 29, 2025) — Broadcom Support Advisory

·       VMware Aria Operations 8.18.5 release notes — Broadcom TechDocs

·       VMware Cloud Foundation Operations 9.0.1.0 release notes — Broadcom TechDocs

·       VMware Tools 13.0.5.0 release notes — Broadcom TechDocs

·       Tenable CVE summary for CVE-2025-41246 — Tenable