Fusion Information Disclosure¶

Key facts

CVE-2025-22226 is a High (7.1) vulnerability: VMware ESXi/Workstation/Fusion Information Disclosure. This entry ships a detection-only PoC. It is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog (added 2025-03-04), confirming active exploitation in the wild.

Actively exploited — on the CISA KEV catalog

CVE-2025-22226 is listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog (added 2025-03-04), confirming exploitation in the wild. Federal remediation deadline: 2025-03-25. Prioritise patching and deploy the detection and prevention rules below.


CVE	CVE-2025-22226
Severity	High (7.1)
CISA KEV	Actively exploited (added 2025-03-04)
Detection / prevention	—
PoC	poc.py
Source	2025/CVE-2025-22226/

Details¶

Overview¶

Attribute	Value
CVE ID	CVE-2025-22226
Severity	High
CVSS Score	7.1
Affected Product	VMware ESXi/Workstation/Fusion
Vulnerability Type	Information Disclosure
CWE	CWE-125

Description¶

Out-of-bounds read vulnerability in HGFS allowing administrators with VM access to leak memory from the vmx process. Reported by Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center.

Affected Versions¶

VMware ESXi, Workstation, Fusion

Verification Process¶

The PoC uses a multi-stage verification approach:

Step 1: Product/Version Detection (Passive)¶

[*] Query target endpoint
[*] Detect product signatures and extract version
[*] Check if version is in vulnerable range

Step 2: Active Vulnerability Testing¶

Method	Description	Detection
Error-based	Inject payloads that trigger error messages	Error indicators in response
Timing-based	Inject delay commands and measure response	Response time > baseline + delay
Response-based	Check for expected patterns in response	Pattern match in response body
Callback-based	Trigger OOB request to attacker server	HTTP request received

Verification Flow¶

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    Product Detection                         │
│  Query target → Detect product/version                      │
│  Check if version in vulnerable range                       │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                              ↓
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│               Active Vulnerability Testing                   │
│                                                              │
│  1. Error-based Test                                         │
│     └─ Send payload → Check for error indicators            │
│     └─ If error found → CONFIRMED VULNERABLE                │
│                                                              │
│  2. Timing-based Test                                        │
│     └─ Send delay payload → Measure response time           │
│     └─ If delayed → CONFIRMED VULNERABLE                    │
│                                                              │
│  3. Callback-based Test (if URL provided)                    │
│     └─ Send OOB payload → Check callback server             │
│     └─ If request received → CONFIRMED VULNERABLE           │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Usage¶

# Full vulnerability check (version + active testing)
python3 poc.py -t https://target.com -c

# Version-only check (passive, no payloads sent)
python3 poc.py -t https://target.com -c --version-only

# With OOB callback (most reliable)
python3 poc.py -t https://target.com -c --callback http://your-server.com

Mitigation¶

Upgrade to the latest patched version
Apply workarounds if patch unavailable
Monitor for exploitation attempts
Network segmentation to limit exposure

References¶

NVD Entry

Frequently asked questions¶

What is CVE-2025-22226?¶

CVE-2025-22226 is a High (7.1) vulnerability: VMware ESXi/Workstation/Fusion Information Disclosure. This entry ships a detection-only PoC. It is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog (added 2025-03-04), confirming active exploitation in the wild.

How do I detect CVE-2025-22226?¶

Run the detection-only PoC included with this entry against your Docker test lab to confirm whether a target is affected; pair it with your own IDS logging.

How do I block or mitigate CVE-2025-22226?¶

Upgrade to a fixed version per the vendor advisory; the NVD record lists the affected versions. Use the included PoC to verify your remediation.

Is CVE-2025-22226 actively exploited?¶

Yes. CVE-2025-22226 is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, added 2025-03-04, which means it has been exploited in the wild. CISA set a federal remediation deadline of 2025-03-25. Prioritise patching and deploy the detection and prevention rules above.

For authorized security testing and research only. See the full source and NVD record.