CVE-2023-34048VMware vCenter Server Out-of-Bounds Write Vulnerability
- 9.8CriticalCVSS base score
- 99.2%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 0.1% of all CVEs
- YesKnown exploitedin CISA's KEV since 22 Jan 2024
- 1Public exploitsMetasploit, Nuclei and Exploit-DB
Description
vCenter Server contains an out-of-bounds write vulnerability in the implementation of the DCERPC protocol. A malicious actor with network access to vCenter Server may trigger an out-of-bounds write potentially leading to remote code execution.
Exploited in the wild
CISA lists this vulnerability in its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog as VMware vCenter Server Out-of-Bounds Write Vulnerability.
- Added
- 22 Jan 2024
- Fix due (US federal)
- 12 Feb 2024
- Used by ransomware
- Not known
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
ENISA's EU Vulnerability Database lists it as exploited, from CISA's KEV, since 22 Jan 2024.
Public exploit
An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. The public collections list a Nuclei template for it. CISA's SSVC rates its exploitation: it is being exploited.
Show the exploits1
Nuclei templates1 template
- VMware vCenter Server - Out-of-Bounds Write (Nuclei template) (opens in a new tab)
http/cves/2023/CVE-2023-34048.yamlSeverity critical
Modules, templates and exploits as listed by the Metasploit Framework (BSD-3-Clause), ProjectDiscovery's Nuclei templates (MIT) and the Exploit Database (GPLv2), read once a day. Where the data comes from
Timeline
ID reserved
By vmware
- 5 months later
· 5 months later
Published
- 3 months later
· 3 months later
Added to CISA KEV
Known exploited in the wild
- 21 months later
· 21 months later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| vmwareCNA (assigner) | 3.1 | Critical9.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| NVDNVD · Analyzed | 3.1 | Critical9.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 99.2% · top 0.1% of all CVEs (12 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: active · Automatable: no · Technical impact: total
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: Critical 9.8.
Affected products
VMware · VMware vCenter Server
- affected 8.0 – < 8.0U2
- affected 7.0 – < 7.0U3o
VMware · VMware Cloud Foundation (VMware vCenter Server)
- affected 5.x
- affected 4.x
References
References3
- https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2023-0023.html (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2023-34048 (opens in a new tab)government-resource
- https://www.vicarius.io/vsociety/posts/understanding-cve-2023-34048-a-zero-day-out-of-bound-write-in-vcenter-server (opens in a new tab)
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- CISA KEV catalog (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2023-38166 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2023-34048)Record last updated .