CVE-2024-38813
Vmware Vcenter Server 7.0 … 8.0
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HSummary
CVE-2024-38813 is a high-severity Execution with Unnecessary Privileges (CWE-250) vulnerability in Vmware Vcenter Server. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked in the top 3% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-6 (Least Privilege) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
The vulnerability CVE-2024-38813 is a privilege escalation flaw in VMware vCenter Server that stems from improper privilege handling, tracked under CWE-250 and CWE-273. It affects the vCenter Server component and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 7.5 reflecting network attack vector, high complexity, and low privileges required for successful exploitation.
A malicious actor who already possesses network access to vCenter Server can trigger the issue by transmitting a specially crafted network packet, resulting in an escalation of privileges to root on the affected system.
Broadcom has published a security advisory detailing the issue, while CISA has added CVE-2024-38813 to its catalog of known exploited vulnerabilities. The associated EPSS score has remained in the moderate range with a current value of 0.2953 and a peak of 0.3281.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2024-37704
Vulnerability Data
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.
- CWE(s)
- KEV Date Added
- 20 November 2024
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 6 hardening rules · 6 OS baselines
V10.2.3V13.2.2
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Least privilege directly requires that only the minimum necessary authorizations are granted, structurally eliminating execution with unnecessary privileges.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
PR.AA-05 directly enforces least privilege so largely eliminates CWE-250 at design time, yet the weakness can still arise from runtime escalation paths, third-party code, or misapplied role definitions outside this single control.
Secure SDLC activities (code review, static analysis, testing) catch missing or incorrect privilege-drop checks, but eliminating only this one flaw covers only a fraction of the control's broader intent.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Requiring explicit justification and time-limited grants discourages the routine allocation of unnecessary privileges that would otherwise allow execution with more rights than required.
Restricting privileged utilities to the fewest trusted users and requiring explicit authorization directly stops developers or operators from embedding or invoking code that runs with unnecessary elevated rights.
Mandating separate non-privileged identities for routine work and restricting privileged accounts to administrative tasks reduces the chance that everyday operations run with unnecessary elevated rights.
Security testing can detect failed privilege drops, yet the control does not require such checks as part of its core intent.
The control explicitly calls for minimizing privileged identities and disabling unnecessary accounts, thereby reducing the number of processes that run with unnecessary privileges.
The requirement to restrict privileged access and apply segregation of duties limits the number of processes or accounts that must run with elevated rights, lowering the impact of unnecessary privilege assignments.
Hardening callouts derived
Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).
Windows 10 (1 rule)
- V-220712 Only accounts responsible for the administration of a system must have Administrator rights on the system. prevents CWE-250
Windows 11 (1 rule)
- V-253269 Only accounts responsible for the administration of a system must have Administrator rights on the system. prevents CWE-250
Windows Server 2016 (1 rule)
- V-225007 Only administrators responsible for the member server or standalone or nondomain-joined system must have Administrator rights on the system. prevents CWE-250
Windows Server 2019 (1 rule)
- V-205746 Windows Server 2019 must only allow Administrators responsible for the member server or standalone or nondomain-joined system to have Administrator rights on the system. prevents CWE-250
Windows Server 2022 (1 rule)
- V-254428 Windows Server 2022 must only allow administrators responsible for the member server or standalone or nondomain-joined system to have Administrator rights on the system. prevents CWE-250