On 2025-10-30, CISA added CVE-2025-41244 (Broadcom VMware Aria Operations and VMware Tools) to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) Catalog [2]. The vulnerability is listed in the catalog as "Broadcom VMware Aria Operations and VMware Tools Privilege Defined with Unsafe Actions Vulnerability" [2]. CISA requires remediation in accordance with vendor mitigation instructions; see the original text in the body for specific requirements [2].
Backfill: this event became public on Oct 30, 2025 and we added it on Nov 10, 2026. It is not a new event.
CISA Adds Broadcom VMware Aria Operations and VMware Tools Vulnerability CVE-2025-41244 to Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog
1 min read
- Disclosed
- Oct 30, 2025
- Published
- Nov 10, 2026
- Last updated
- Nov 8, 2026
- CVSS basis
- Our assessment
- 16.4%, higher than 97% of CVEs
- Exploitation and patch status
- ExploitedKEV
- Attack vector
- Vulnerability status
- Actor type
- Motivation
On this page
30-second summary
What happened
Who is affected
Industries mainly affected: Government, Cross-industry
What to do nowOur advice
CISA requires remediation in accordance with vendor mitigation instructions; see the original text in the body for specific requirements [2]
Timeline
Technical details
CISA KEV Listing Record
On 2025-10-30, CISA added CVE-2025-41244 to the catalog for Broadcom VMware Aria Operations and VMware Tools [2].
Original Technical Description
Broadcom VMware Aria Operations and VMware Tools contain a privilege defined with unsafe actions 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. [2]
Official Requirements
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable. [2]
Individual Vulnerability Record
The U.S. National Vulnerability Database (NVD) provides an independent vulnerability record and description for CVE-2025-41244. [1]
References
Official / primary3
- [1]
“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 privile”
- [2]
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