CVE-2020-3970 : What You Need to Know

VMware ESXi, Workstation, and Fusion products are affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in the Shader functionality, potentially leading to a partial denial of service condition.

Understanding CVE-2020-3970

This CVE involves an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in VMware products, allowing a malicious actor to crash a virtual machine's vmx process.

What is CVE-2020-3970?

CVE-2020-3970 is an out-of-bounds read vulnerability affecting VMware ESXi, Workstation, and Fusion products.

The Impact of CVE-2020-3970

The vulnerability could be exploited by a non-administrative user with local access to a virtual machine with 3D graphics enabled, resulting in a partial denial of service condition.

Technical Details of CVE-2020-3970

This section provides more technical insights into the vulnerability.

Vulnerability Description

The vulnerability lies in the Shader functionality of VMware ESXi, Workstation, and Fusion products.

Affected Systems and Versions

VMware ESXi 7.0 before ESXi_7.0.0-1.20.16321839
VMware ESXi 6.7 before ESXi670-202004101-SG
VMware ESXi 6.5 before ESXi650-202005401-SG
VMware Workstation 15.x before 15.5.5
VMware Fusion 11.x before 11.5.5

Exploitation Mechanism

A malicious actor with non-administrative local access to a virtual machine with 3D graphics enabled can exploit the vulnerability to crash the virtual machine's vmx process.

Mitigation and Prevention

Protecting systems from CVE-2020-3970 is crucial to ensure security.

Immediate Steps to Take

Apply the necessary security patches provided by VMware.
Restrict non-administrative access to virtual machines.

Long-Term Security Practices

Regularly update VMware products to the latest versions.
Implement strong access controls and monitoring mechanisms.

Patching and Updates

Ensure timely installation of security patches released by VMware to address the vulnerability.