CVE-2024-37085: VMware ESXi Authentication Bypass Vulnerability
- Is it exploited?
Yes. CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on , 35 days after the CVE record was published.
- How likely is exploitation in the next 30 days?
- 26.8%
EPSS score, percentile 98 of all scored records
- How severe?
- 6.8 Medium
CVSS v3.1 base score, given by the CNA
- What should I do?
CISA deadline . Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
The CVE record links no vendor advisory, patch or mitigation.
- Which versions are affected?
Affected
- from 8.0 to before ESXi80U3-24022510
- 7.0
- 5.x
- 4.x
Source: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, 2026.10.28, as of ; FIRST Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), v2026.06.15, as of ; CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of . About the data.
What to do
Required action, set by CISA
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
CISA due date for this action: .
Advisories and patches
The CVE record links no vendor advisory, patch or mitigation.
Linked from CISA's catalog entry
- https://support.broadcom.com/web/ecx/support-content-notification/-/external/content/SecurityAdvisories/0/24505
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-37085
Affected products and versions
As listed in the CVE record.
| Status | Versions |
|---|---|
| Affected | from 8.0 to before ESXi80U3-24022510 |
| Affected | 7.0 |
Versions not listed are: unaffected.
| Status | Versions |
|---|---|
| Affected | 5.x |
| Affected | 4.x |
Versions not listed are: unaffected.
Source: CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of . About the data.
About this vulnerability
VMware ESXi contains an authentication bypass vulnerability. A malicious actor with sufficient Active Directory (AD) permissions can gain full access to an ESXi host that was previously configured to use AD for user management by re-creating the configured AD group ('ESXi Admins' by default) after it was deleted from AD.
Summary: CISA's KEV catalog, as of .
- CISA added CVE-2024-37085 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on 30 Jul 2024.
- CISA marks it as known to be used in ransomware campaigns.
- The due date CISA sets for the required action is 20 Aug 2024.
- The CVE record was published on 25 Jun 2024, 35 days before it was added to KEV.
- The CVE record carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 6.8 (Medium), given by its CNA.
- FIRST's EPSS model puts the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days at 26.8% (percentile 98), as of 28 Oct 2026.
- CISA's SSVC assessment in the CVE record: exploitation active, automatable no, technical impact total.
Source: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, 2026.10.28, as of ; CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of ; FIRST Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), v2026.06.15, as of . About the data.
Description
VMware ESXi contains an authentication bypass vulnerability. A malicious actor with sufficient Active Directory (AD) permissions can gain full access to an ESXi host that was previously configured to use AD for user management https://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2012/09/joining-vsphere-hosts-to-active-directory.html by re-creating the configured AD group ('ESXi Admins' by default) after it was deleted from AD.
Source: CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of . About the data.
Weakness
- CWE-305: Authentication Bypass by Primary Weakness
CWE and CAPEC are maintained by MITRE; the entries are those named in the CVE record and the KEV entry.
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| CVE record published | |
| Added to CISA KEV | |
| CISA due date for the required action | |
| CVE record last updated |
References
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