What is CVE-2016-5333?

CVE-2016-5333 is a critical-severity vulnerability in VMware Photon OS, classified under Use of Hard-coded Credentials. CVSS score: 9.8/10. Published 2016-08-31.

How severe is CVE-2016-5333?

Critical severity. CVSS v3 base score is 9.8 out of 10.

Vulnerability in VMware Photon OS

CVE-2016-5333

VMware Photos OS OVA 1.0 before 2016-08-14 has a default SSH public key in an authorized_keys file, which allows remote attackers to obtain SSH access by leveraging knowledge of the private key.

Published 2016-08-31 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 9.8 (Critical). Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.025 (84.5th percentile), scored 2026-10-20.

Low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, but still tracked. 85th percentile — 84.5% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.025 · newest: 0.025 · change: 0.000

Affected products

VMware Photon OS

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-798 — Use of Hard-coded Credentials

References

www.securitytracker.com/id/1036628 (vdb-entry)
www.securityfocus.com/bid/92474 (vdb-entry)
www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2016-0012.html (Vendor Advisory)
www.theregister.co.uk/2016/08/16/vmware_shipped_public_key_with_its_photon_osfo… (Press/Media Coverage)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2016-5333?: CVE-2016-5333 is a critical-severity vulnerability in VMware Photon OS, classified under Use of Hard-coded Credentials. CVSS score: 9.8/10. Published 2016-08-31.
How severe is CVE-2016-5333?: Critical severity. CVSS v3 base score is 9.8 out of 10.