CVE-2024-38813: VMware vCenter Server Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

Is it exploited?

Yes. CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 20 Nov 2024, 64 days after the CVE record was published.

How likely is exploitation in the next 30 days?

17.4%

EPSS score, percentile 97.1 of all scored records

How severe?

7.5 High

CVSS v3.1 base score, given by the CNA

What should I do?

CISA deadline 11 Dec 2024. 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 8.0 U3b
• from 7.0 to before 7.0 U3s
• 5.x
• 4.x

Versions by product

Source: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, 2026.10.28, as of 28 Oct 2026; FIRST Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), v2026.06.15, as of 28 Oct 2026; CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of 28 Oct 2026. About the data.

What to do

CISA due date for this action: 11 December 2024.

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/0/24968
• https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-38813

Affected products and versions

As listed in the CVE record.

Versions not listed are: unaffected.

Versions not listed are: unaffected.

Source: CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of 28 Oct 2026. About the data.

About this vulnerability

VMware vCenter contains an improper check for dropped privileges vulnerability. This vulnerability could allow an attacker with network access to the vCenter Server to escalate privileges to root by sending a specially crafted packet.

Summary: CISA's KEV catalog, as of 28 Oct 2026.

• CISA added CVE-2024-38813 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on 20 Nov 2024.
• CISA's ransomware flag for this entry is "Unknown": no evidence of ransomware use in the catalog, which is not proof of none.
• The due date CISA sets for the required action is 11 Dec 2024.
• The CVE record was published on 17 Sep 2024, 64 days before it was added to KEV.
• The CVE record carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (High), given by its CNA.
• FIRST's EPSS model puts the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days at 17.4% (percentile 97.1), 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 28 Oct 2026; CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of 28 Oct 2026; FIRST Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), v2026.06.15, as of 28 Oct 2026. About the data.

Description

Privilege escalation vulnerability

The vCenter Server contains a privilege escalation vulnerability. A malicious actor with network access to vCenter Server may trigger this vulnerability to escalate privileges to root by sending a specially crafted network packet.

Source: CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of 28 Oct 2026. About the data.

Weakness

• CWE-273: Improper Check for Dropped Privileges
• CWE-250

CWE and CAPEC are maintained by MITRE; the entries are those named in the CVE record and the KEV entry.

Timeline

References

• support.broadcom.com

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