Broadcom-owned VMware has released security patches addressing a moderate severity insecure file handling vulnerability in VMware Tools, tracked as CVE-2025-22247 with a CVSS base score of 6.1.
The vulnerability allows non-administrative users to manipulate files within guest virtual machines to execute unauthorized file operations.
Security updates are now available for affected Windows and Linux systems, while macOS environments remain unaffected by this security flaw.
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The security flaw (CVE-2025-22247) exists in the file handling mechanisms of VMware Tools, a suite of utilities that enhances the performance of virtual machines’ guest operating systems.
According to VMware’s security advisory VMSA-2025-0007 released on May 12, 2025, the vulnerability enables attackers with limited privileges to compromise file operations within the virtual machine environment.
The technical assessment identified this as an insecure file handling vulnerability, where improper validation of file operations could lead to privilege escalation or unauthorized file manipulation within the VM.
“A malicious actor with non-administrative privileges on a guest VM may tamper the local files to trigger insecure file operations within that VM,” VMware explained in its advisory.
The attack requires local access to the guest virtual machine, limiting the attack surface but still presenting significant risk to multi-user environments where VM guests may have multiple users with varying privilege levels.
The vulnerability was privately reported to VMware by security researcher Sergey Bliznyuk of Positive Technologies.
Affected Systems and Impact Assessment
The vulnerability impacts multiple versions of VMware Tools across different operating systems with varying degrees of severity.
Specifically, VMware Tools versions 11.x.x and 12.x.x running on Windows and Linux operating systems are vulnerable to exploitation.
VMware has rated the vulnerability as “Moderate” with a maximum CVSSv3 base score of 6.1, indicating potential for significant but contained damage.
The CVSS vector string (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:N) reveals that while the vulnerability has low attack complexity and requires no user interaction, it can lead to low confidentiality impact but high integrity impact within affected systems.
Organizations operating virtual infrastructures with multiple users accessing the same virtual machines face the highest risk, as the vulnerability could allow less privileged users to perform unauthorized actions by exploiting the insecure file operations.
Notably, VMware Tools installations on macOS systems remain completely unaffected by this vulnerability, limiting organizational exposure for environments using Apple hardware for virtualization.
Patching and Mitigation Strategies
VMware has released VMware Tools version 12.5.2 to address the vulnerability across affected platforms.
For Windows 32-bit systems, the fix is included in VMware Tools 12.4.7, which is part of the broader 12.5.2 release package.
Linux users will receive patches through their distribution vendors as updates to the open-vm-tools package, with specific version numbers potentially varying across different Linux distributions.
The security advisory confirms no workarounds exist for this vulnerability, making patching the only viable security option.
Organizations running vulnerable VMware Tools versions are strongly advised to prioritize updates, particularly in multi-user environments where the risk of exploitation is highest.
VMware has made the patched version available through its official download channels, with complete documentation available on the Broadcom support portal.
“This vulnerability highlights the importance of maintaining current security patches even for auxiliary systems like VM tools,” noted VMware in supplementary documentation, emphasizing that virtual infrastructure security extends beyond hypervisor protection to include guest VM management tools.
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