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5.0

VMware desktop products can crash from crafted login commands

CVE-2009-3707 · published 17 years ago
Summary

Versions of VMware Workstation, Player, ACE and Server allow a remote user to send specially formed USER or PASS data that makes the authentication service stop working. This can cause the VMware program to freeze or close unexpectedly, interrupting any virtual machines running. Upgrade to the latest builds of each product or apply the vendor’s patches to prevent the crash.

What to do

The CVE record does not list a fixed version. Check the vendor's site or the advisory links below - a fix may already be released.

Affected software
VendorProductAffected versions
vmware ace 2.5.0
2.5.1
2.5.2
2.5.3
2.5.4
2.6
2.6.1
cpe:2.3:a:vmware:ace:2.5.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware player 2.5
2.5.1
2.5.2
2.5.3
2.5.4
3.0
3.0.1
cpe:2.3:a:vmware:player:2.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware server 2.0.0
2.0.1
2.0.2
cpe:2.3:a:vmware:server:2.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware workstation 6.5.0
6.5.1
6.5.2
6.5.3
6.5.4
7.0
7.0.1
cpe:2.3:a:vmware:workstation:6.5.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Original advisory text
VMware Authentication Daemon 1.0 in vmware-authd.exe in the VMware Authorization Service in VMware Workstation 7.0 before 7.0.1 build 227600 and 6.5.x before 6.5.4 build 246459, VMware Player 3.0 b...
VMware Authentication Daemon 1.0 in vmware-authd.exe in the VMware Authorization Service in VMware Workstation 7.0 before 7.0.1 build 227600 and 6.5.x before 6.5.4 build 246459, VMware Player 3.0 before 3.0.1 build 227600 and 2.5.x before 2.5.4 build 246459, VMware ACE 2.6 before 2.6.1 build 227600 and 2.5.x before 2.5.4 build 246459, and VMware Server 2.x allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (process crash) via a \x25\xFF sequence in the USER and PASS commands, related to a "format string DoS" issue. NOTE: some of these details are obtained from third party information.
References
Fix within
Internet-facing 14 days
Internal 60 days
  • Not known to be exploited
  • Can be exploited automatically (estimated)
  • Gives an attacker partial control (estimated)
Severity
5.0 Medium
Exploitation
11% chance of attack within 30 days
Type
CWE-134Use of Externally-Controlled Format String
Timeline
Published16 Oct 2009
Updated18 Oct 2026
First seen29 Sep 2026
Sources
CVE-2009-3707 · NVD
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