CVE-2024-37081: VMware vCenter Privilege Escalation Flaw

CVE-2024-37081 Overview

CVE-2024-37081 is a local privilege escalation vulnerability affecting VMware vCenter Server. The vulnerability stems from multiple misconfigurations in the sudo utility that allow an authenticated local user with non-administrative privileges to elevate their privileges to root on the vCenter Server Appliance. This vulnerability poses significant risk to organizations running affected vCenter Server versions, as successful exploitation grants an attacker complete control over the virtualization management infrastructure.

Critical Impact

An attacker with low-privileged local access to the vCenter Server Appliance can exploit sudo misconfigurations to gain root-level access, potentially compromising the entire virtual infrastructure managed by vCenter.

Affected Products

• VMware vCenter Server 8.0 (all versions prior to patched release)
• VMware vCenter Server 7.0 (all versions prior to patched release)
• VMware Cloud Foundation (versions utilizing affected vCenter Server)

Discovery Timeline

• June 18, 2024 - CVE-2024-37081 published to NVD
• June 20, 2025 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-37081

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-556 (ASP.NET Misconfiguration: Use of Identity Impersonation), though in this context it more accurately relates to improper privilege management through sudo misconfiguration. The vulnerability requires local access to the vCenter Server Appliance and valid credentials for a non-administrative user account.

The attack surface is limited to local access, requiring an attacker to first gain authenticated access to the vCenter Server Appliance through SSH or console access. Once authenticated as a low-privileged user, the attacker can leverage the misconfigured sudo rules to execute commands with elevated privileges, ultimately achieving root access.

The impact of successful exploitation is severe, granting the attacker complete confidentiality, integrity, and availability control over the vCenter Server Appliance. Given that vCenter Server is the central management platform for VMware virtual infrastructure, root access could enable an attacker to manipulate virtual machines, extract sensitive data, disrupt operations, or pivot to other systems within the virtual environment.

Root Cause

The root cause of CVE-2024-37081 lies in improper configuration of sudo rules within the vCenter Server Appliance. The sudo utility is designed to allow specific users to execute designated commands with elevated privileges. However, the misconfiguration in affected vCenter Server versions allows non-administrative users to escalate privileges beyond their intended scope.

This misconfiguration likely includes overly permissive sudoers entries, improper NOPASSWD configurations, or commands specified in a way that permits privilege escalation through command injection or path manipulation. The nature of having "multiple" privilege escalation vulnerabilities suggests several distinct misconfigurations exist within the sudo configuration.

Attack Vector

The attack vector for CVE-2024-37081 requires local authenticated access to the vCenter Server Appliance. An attacker would need to:

1. Obtain valid credentials for a non-administrative user account on the vCenter Server Appliance
2. Authenticate to the appliance via SSH or direct console access
3. Enumerate the available sudo permissions for their user account
4. Identify and exploit the misconfigured sudo rules to execute commands as root
5. Achieve full root-level access to the system

The vulnerability does not require user interaction and can be exploited with low attack complexity once the prerequisite local access is obtained. The exploitation mechanism leverages the standard sudo utility behavior, making detection challenging without proper monitoring of privilege escalation events.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-37081

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual sudo command execution by non-administrative user accounts on vCenter Server Appliance
• Unexpected processes running as root that were initiated by low-privileged users
• Modifications to system files, configurations, or binaries following privilege escalation
• Authentication logs showing access by non-administrative accounts followed by privileged operations

Detection Strategies

• Monitor /var/log/auth.log and /var/log/secure for sudo execution patterns by non-administrative users
• Implement alerting on successful sudo commands executed by users not in expected administrative groups
• Deploy file integrity monitoring on critical system directories to detect unauthorized modifications
• Review sudo configuration files (/etc/sudoers and /etc/sudoers.d/) for overly permissive entries

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable comprehensive audit logging for all sudo operations on vCenter Server Appliance
• Configure SIEM integration to correlate authentication events with privilege escalation attempts
• Establish baseline of expected sudo usage patterns and alert on deviations
• Implement real-time monitoring of user session activities on critical infrastructure components

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-37081

Immediate Actions Required

• Apply the security patch provided by VMware/Broadcom immediately to all affected vCenter Server installations
• Review and restrict SSH and console access to vCenter Server Appliance to essential personnel only
• Audit existing user accounts on vCenter Server Appliance and remove unnecessary non-administrative accounts
• Implement network segmentation to limit access to vCenter Server management interfaces

Patch Information

VMware (now Broadcom) has released security updates to address this vulnerability. Administrators should consult the Broadcom Security Advisory #24453 for specific patch versions and installation instructions. The patch corrects the sudo misconfigurations that enable privilege escalation.

Organizations running VMware Cloud Foundation should follow the appropriate patching guidance for their deployment, as vCenter Server is a component of Cloud Foundation infrastructure.

Workarounds

• Restrict local shell access to the vCenter Server Appliance by disabling SSH when not required for maintenance
• Implement strict access controls and multi-factor authentication for any console or shell access
• Review and harden the sudoers configuration manually by removing unnecessary NOPASSWD entries and restricting command execution paths
• Deploy additional monitoring and alerting for any sudo activity on the appliance until patching can be completed

# Review current sudo configuration for potential issues
# Run as root or with appropriate sudo access
visudo -c -f /etc/sudoers
cat /etc/sudoers.d/*

# Check for users with sudo privileges
grep -E '^[^#]*ALL.*NOPASSWD' /etc/sudoers /etc/sudoers.d/* 2>/dev/null

# Restrict SSH access (temporary mitigation)
# Warning: Ensure alternative management access before disabling
systemctl stop sshd
systemctl disable sshd