CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2019-5543 — Vmware Horizon Client security vulnerability

High CVSS 7.8

For VMware Horizon Client for Windows (5.x and prior before 5.3.0), VMware Remote Console for Windows (10.x before 11.0.0), VMware Workstation for Windows (15.x before 15.5.2) the folder containing configuration files for the VMware USB arbitration service was found to be writable by all users. A local user on the system where the software is installed may exploit this issue to run commands as any user.

Severity
High
CVSS
7.8 (3.1)
Published
2020-03-16
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
windows/system
Weaknesses
CWE-732

Affected products

  • vmware / horizon_client
  • vmware / remote_console
  • vmware / workstation

Matched remediation archetype

Privilege escalation and unsafe privilege management

This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.

Check exposure

  • Map service accounts, operating-system identities, roles, capabilities, impersonation, set-user transitions, and administrative helper paths.
  • Determine whether untrusted users or lower-privilege processes can reach the affected transition or modify inputs it trusts.
  • Review file, socket, registry, device, job, container, and cloud-role permissions used before and after privilege changes.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the supported fix and redesign privileged operations as a minimal, authenticated, allowlisted interface.
  • Drop privileges before processing untrusted input, verify the drop succeeds, and remove unnecessary roles, capabilities, and write permissions.
  • Validate ownership and permissions at time of use and add explicit lower-to-higher privilege boundary tests.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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