Critical severity · published Oct 20, 2020
CVE-2020-3992
VMware ESXi OpenSLP Use-After-Free Vulnerability
RansomwareIn wildKEV
9.8
CVSS
83%
EPSS
Yes
On KEV
Description
OpenSLP as used in VMware ESXi (7.0 before ESXi_7.0.1-0.0.16850804, 6.7 before ESXi670-202010401-SG, 6.5 before ESXi650-202010401-SG) has a use-after-free issue. A malicious actor residing in the management network who has access to port 427 on an ESXi machine may be able to trigger a use-after-free in the OpenSLP service resulting in remote code execution.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)83.0% · higher than 100% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildYes
CISA KEVListed Nov 3, 2021
Federal remediation dueMay 3, 2022
Ransomware campaign useKnown
Affected products
Which versions
ES
ESXi · VMware
VMware ESXi (7.0 before ESXi_7.0.1-0.0.16850804, 6.7 before ESXi670-202010401-SG, 6.5 before ESXi650-202010401-SG) · source: vendor, NVD, KEV
CF
Cloud Foundation · Vmware
3.0 before 3.10.1.2; 4.0 before 4.1.0.1 · source: NVD
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-3992
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-3992
CISA KEV catalogue
https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog
x_refsource_MISC
https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2020-0023.html
x_refsource_MISC
https://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-20-1377/
x_refsource_MISC
https://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-20-1385/
More from ESXi
9.8
CVE-2019-5544
VMware ESXi and Horizon DaaS OpenSLP Heap-Based Buffer Overflow Vulnerability
8.2
CVE-2025-22225
VMware ESXi Arbitrary Write Vulnerability
8.2
CVE-2025-22224
VMware ESXi and Workstation TOCTOU Race Condition Vulnerability
7.8
CVE-2010-3904
Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation Vulnerability
7.5
CVE-2023-29552
Service Location Protocol (SLP) Denial-of-Service Vulnerability