CVE-2025-22224
Exploited in the wild. In CISA KEV since 2025‑03‑04. A vendor fix is available.
What to do
The vendor has published a fix. Version details are below where the sources state them.
What it is
From the CVE record
VMware ESXi, and Workstation contain a TOCTOU (Time-of-Check Time-of-Use) vulnerability that leads to an out-of-bounds write. A malicious actor with local administrative privileges on a virtual machine may exploit this issue to execute code as the virtual machine's VMX process running on the host.
In plain language
No plain-language summary for this CVE yet.
Exploitation
Where each signal puts this CVE on the scale from published to confirmed exploited.
- CISA KEV
Listed as exploited in the wild since 2025-03-04.
US federal agencies must remediate by 2025-03-25.
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
- Public exploits
No public exploit or proof of concept found in the sources we track.
- EPSS
1.6% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, which ranks it in the 74th percentile of scored CVEs.
Exploit Prediction Scoring System, FIRST.org. A probability, not a confirmation.
Lifecycle
9 events over 478 days, from the signal feeds we watch.
- OpenVAS check added
- EPSS band changemoderate → low
- EPSS band changehigh → moderate
- Patch availablerecord updated
- Added to CISA KEVpublished, weakness classified, att&ck mapped
Affected products
And 4 more affected products. See all after sign-in
Technical detail
CVSS 3.1 vector
Open in the CVSS calculatorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Scored 9.3 by NVD.
How it is reached
- Attack Vector LocalRequires local access to the vulnerable system (e.g. local login, malicious file)
- Attack Complexity LowNo special conditions — the attack can be reliably reproduced
- Privileges Required NoneNo authentication required — anyone can exploit this
- User Interaction NoneNo user interaction needed — fully automated exploitation
Scope
- Scope ChangedThe exploit can affect other components (e.g. sandbox escape, host compromise from VM)
Impact if exploited
- Confidentiality HighTotal information disclosure — all data in the component is compromised
- Integrity HighTotal loss of integrity — attacker can modify any data in the component
- Availability HighTotal denial of service — the component is completely unavailable
Weaknesses
ATT&CK techniques
Mapped from the weaknesses above (CWE to ATT&CK), not observed in attacks.
- Privilege EscalationT1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalationmedium confidence
Sources
References in the record
- support.broadcom.com/web/ecx/support-content-notification/-/external/content/SecurityAdvisories/0/25390
- raw.githubusercontent.com/cisagov/CSAF/develop/csaf_files/OT/white/2025/icsa-25-077-02.json
- cisa.gov/news-events/ics-advisories/icsa-25-077-02
And 18 more references. See all after sign-in
In the news
Watch the software you run.
My Stack ranks new CVEs for your products by real-world exploitation, so the next exploited one reaches you without reading every advisory.
We'll flag the next CVE, public exploit or patch for ESXi, not every advisory. This one: actively exploited.
A free account adds
- The full version matrix and every affected product
- Exploit links, proofs of concept and Metasploit modules
- Email alerts for the products you watch
- The same data over REST API, MCP and CLI