VMSA-2018-0027

VMware ESXi, Workstation, and Fusion updates address uninitialized stack memory usage.

1. Summary

VMware ESXi, Workstation, and Fusion updates address uninitialized stack memory usage.

2. Relevant Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi (ESXi)
• VMware Workstation Pro / Player (Workstation)
• VMware Fusion Pro, Fusion (Fusion)

3. Problem Description

a. vmxnet3 uninitialized stack memory usage

VMware ESXi, Fusion and Workstation contain uninitialized stack memory usage in the vmxnet3 virtual network adapter. This issue may allow a guest to execute code on the host. The issue is present if vmxnet3 is enabled. Non vmxnet3 virtual adapters are not affected by this issue.

VMware would like to thank the organizers of GeekPwn2018 and security researchers Zhangyanyu of Chaitin Tech and SmallerDragon for reporting this issue to us.
  

The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the identifier CVE-2018-6981 to this issue.

Column 5 of the following table lists the action required to remediate the vulnerability in each release, if a solution is available.

b. vmxnet3 uninitialized stack memory usage
   
VMware ESXi, Fusion and Workstation contain uninitialized stack memory usage in the vmxnet3 virtual network adapter. This issue may lead to an information leak from host to guest. The issue is present if vmxnet3 is enabled. Non vmxnet3 virtual adapters are not affected by this issue.  

VMware would like to thank the organizers of GeekPwn2018 and security researcher Zhangyanyu of Chaitin Tech for reporting this issue to us.
   
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the identifier CVE-2018-6982 to this issue.

Column 5 of the following table lists the action required to remediate the vulnerability in each release, if a solution is available.

4. Solution

Please review the patch/release notes for your product and  version and verify the checksum of your downloaded file.
   
   ESXi 6.7
   -------------
   Downloads:  
   https://my.vmware.com/group/vmware/patch    
   Documentation:  
   https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.7/rn/esxi670-201811001.html

   ESXi 6.5  
   -------------
   Downloads:  
   https://my.vmware.com/group/vmware/patch   
   Documentation:
   https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.5/rn/esxi650-201811001.html
   
   ESXi 6.0  
   -------------
   Downloads:  
   https://my.vmware.com/group/vmware/patch    
   Documentation:  
   https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.0/rn/esxi600-201811001.html

   VMware Workstation Pro 14.1.4, 15.0.1
   Downloads and Documentation:
   https://www.vmware.com/go/downloadworkstation
   https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/index.html

   VMware Workstation Player 14.1.4, 15.0.1  
   Downloads and Documentation:
   https://www.vmware.com/go/downloadplayer
   https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Player/index.html
   
   VMware Fusion Pro / Fusion 10.1.4, 11.0.1
   Downloads and Documentation:  
   https://www.vmware.com/go/downloadfusion  
   https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Fusion/index.html  

5. References

https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2018-6981
https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2018-6982

6. Change log

VMSA-2018-0027 2018-11-09
Initial security advisory in conjunction with the release of ESXi 6.0, 6.5, 6.7 patches and VMware Workstation 14.1.4, 15.0.1 and Fusion 10.1.4, 11.0.1 on 2018-11-09.

7. Contact

E-mail list for product security notifications and announcements:

https://lists.vmware.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/security-announce

This Security Advisory is posted to the following lists:

  [email protected]

  [email protected]

  [email protected]

E-mail: [email protected]

PGP key at:

https://kb.vmware.com/kb/1055

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https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories

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https://www.vmware.com/support/policies/security_response.html

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VMware Security & Compliance Blog  

https://blogs.vmware.com/security

Twitter

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