Description
VMware Workstation 5.5.3 build 34685 does not provide per-user restrictions on certain privileged actions, which allows local users to perform restricted operations such as changing system time, accessing hardware components, and stopping the "VMware tools service" service. NOTE: exploitation is simplified via (1) weak file permissions (Users = Read & Execute) for %PROGRAMFILES%\VMware; and weak registry key permissions (access by Users) for (2) vmmouse, (3) vmscsi, (4) VMTools, (5) vmx_svga, and (6) vmxnet in HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\; which allows local users to perform various privileged actions outside of the guest OS by executing certain files under %PROGRAMFILES%\VMware\VMware Tools, as demonstrated by (a) VMControlPanel.cpl and (b) vmwareservice.exe.
References
- 20070219 VMware Workstation multiple denial of service and isolation manipulation vulnerabilities mailing-list
- 2281 third-party-advisory
- 45244 vdb-entry
- 20070303 Re: VMware Workstation multiple denial of service and isolation manipulation vulnerabilities mailing-list