Auth bypass in VMware Tools

CVE-2025-41246

VMware Tools for Windows contains an improper authorisation vulnerability due to the way it handles user access controls. A malicious actor with non-administrative privileges on a guest VM, who is already authenticated through vCenter or ESX may exploit this issue to access other guest VMs. Successful exploitation requires knowledge of credentials of the targeted VMs and vCenter or ESX.

Vulnerability class: Broken Access Control

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 7.6 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.003 (19.2th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 19th percentile — 19.2% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2025-41246: held from 0.003 to 0.003.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.003 · newest: 0.003 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-41246?
CVE-2025-41246 is a high-severity vulnerability in VMware Tools, classified under Incorrect Authorization. CVSS score: 7.6/10. Published 2025-09-29.
How severe is CVE-2025-41246?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.6 out of 10.
Is CVE-2025-41246 known to be exploited?
1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.