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Weekly Signal
Live intelligence Updated 21 Aug 2026 · 22:11 UTC

Broadcom, Debian, VMware · VMware Aria Operations and VMware Tools, Debian Linux, Aria Operations +6 more

CVE-2025-41244

Broadcom VMware Aria Operations and VMware Tools Privilege Defined with Unsafe Actions Vulnerability

Recommended action

Validate affected assets and exposure now, then remediate on an accelerated schedule. Broadcom Security advisory

View response plan
CVSS7.8
EPSS7.9%
KEVYes
ExploitationConfirmed exploitation
RemediationNot yet verified ↓

Assessment

Why it matters

CISA lists this vulnerability as known to be exploited; exploitation is confirmed; EPSS is 7.9%; technical severity is CVSS 7.8.

VMware Aria Operations and VMware Tools contain a local privilege escalation vulnerability. A malicious local actor with non-administrative privileges having access to a VM with VMware Tools installed and managed by Aria Operations with SDMP enabled may exploit this vulnerability to escalate privileges to root on the same VM.

Who should care

  • Teams operating VMware Aria Operations and VMware Tools, Debian Linux, Aria Operations +6 more
  • Vulnerability and exposure management teams
  • Security operations teams monitoring exploitation activity

Response plan

What I would do

  1. Confirm whether VMware Aria Operations and VMware Tools, Debian Linux, Aria Operations +6 more is present in the environment.
  2. Identify affected versions and establish whether vulnerable services are exposed or reachable.
  3. Broadcom Security advisory
  4. Review relevant security telemetry for evidence of attempted or successful exploitation.
  5. Document the remediation decision and track it to verified completion.

Treatment intelligence

Remediation intelligence

Not yet verified

Vendor sources are listed before government and third-party guidance. Confirm product applicability and change prerequisites before deployment.

Verification noteAutomated link verification has not completed for this guidance yet.

Advisory

Required Action

Technical details

CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CWE
CWE-267
Affected versions
Broadcom VMware Aria Operations and VMware Tools; Debian Debian Linux (Version 11.0); VMware Aria Operations (Start Including 8.0, End Excluding 8.18.5); VMware Cloud Foundation (Start Including 4.0, End Including 5.2.2); VMware Cloud Foundation Operations (Version 9.0); VMware Open Vm Tools (Start Including 11.2.0, End Excluding 12.5.4 | Version 13.0.0); VMware Telco Cloud Infrastructure (Start Including 2.2, End Including 3.0); VMware Telco Cloud Platform (Start Including 4.0, End Excluding 5.0.1)
Fixed versions
VMware Aria Operations (Fixed from 8.18.5); VMware Open Vm Tools (Fixed from 12.5.4); VMware Telco Cloud Platform (Fixed from 5.0.1); VMware Tools (Fixed from 12.5.4, 13.0.5.0)
Published
29 September 2025
Attack vector
Local
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None

Signal timeline

  1. CVE published
  2. Added to CISA KEV
  3. Latest EPSS score: 7.9%
  4. Signal calculated at 68

External references

Live public intelligence This assessment combines public-source evidence. Validate the affected product, version and exposure against your own environment before making a risk decision.