CVE REMEDIATION GUIDE
CISA KEV · Known exploitedHighFixed-version data available

CVE-2025-41244 remediation guide

Broadcom VMware Aria Operations and VMware Tools

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.

Open CVE record
ProductBroadcom VMware Aria Operations and VMware Tools
Affected versions9.0.x, 13.x.x.x, 12.5.x, 8.18.x, 5.x, 4.x, 3.x, 2.x, >= 8.0 < 8.18.5, >= 4.0 <= 5.2.2, 9.0, >= 11.2.0 < 12.5.4, 13.0.0, >= 2.2 <= 3.0, >= 4.0 < 5.0.1, 11.0, >= 12.5.0 < 12.5.4, >= 13.0.0.0 < 13.0.5.0
Fixed versions8.18.5, 12.5.4, 5.0.1, 13.0.5.0
Priority basisImmediate · CVSS 7.8 · EPSS 7.88%
01

Identify the affected asset

Confirm whether Broadcom VMware Aria Operations and VMware Tools is installed, record the deployed version and installation path, and identify exposed interfaces.

  • Record the product name, package or appliance identifier, and installed version.
  • Identify internet-facing, administrative, API, and internal access paths.
  • Preserve the pre-change configuration and relevant service logs.
02

Validate the affected-version match

Compare the deployed version with the affected range: 9.0.x, 13.x.x.x, 12.5.x, 8.18.x, 5.x, 4.x, 3.x, 2.x, >= 8.0 < 8.18.5, >= 4.0 <= 5.2.2, 9.0, >= 11.2.0 < 12.5.4, 13.0.0, >= 2.2 <= 3.0, >= 4.0 < 5.0.1, 11.0, >= 12.5.0 < 12.5.4, >= 13.0.0.0 < 13.0.5.0. Treat incomplete inventory results as unresolved.

03

Prioritize with independent signals

CISA has listed this vulnerability in the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Combine this signal with asset criticality, exposure, compensating controls, and business impact.

04

Apply supported remediation

Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

05

Verify the result

Confirm the resulting version, service health, authentication and access paths, monitoring coverage, and relevant security logs.

  • Confirm the expected version and package state.
  • Run a functional health check for critical service paths.
  • Review authentication, error, application, and security monitoring logs.
  • Reassess exposure if the supported fix cannot be applied.

Operational boundary

This page does not replace the vendor advisory, support contract, change-management process, or recovery plan. Do not infer that an asset is unaffected from an incomplete inventory query or a missing fixed-version field.