VulnerabilityPublished 29 Sep 2025Updated 26 Feb 2026

CVE-2025-41250: VMware vCenter · Command Injection

Affects VMware vCenterSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 8.5 High.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 14:05 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

8.5High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.6% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 51% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:L

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Changed
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: High
Availability: Low

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Changed: An exploited vulnerability can affect resources beyond the security scope managed by the security authority of the vulnerable component. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are different and managed by different security authorities.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.
Availability: Low: Performance is reduced or there are interruptions in resource availability. Even if repeated exploitation of the vulnerability is possible, the attacker does not have the ability to completely deny service to legitimate users. The resources in the impacted component are either partially available all of the time, or fully available only some of the time, but overall there is no direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 29 Sep 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
VMware vCenter	Affected =8.0 =7.0	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

Immediately review and restrict permissions for creating scheduled tasks in VMware vCenter to only trusted administrators.
Monitor scheduled task creation activities and notification email content for anomalies or unexpected modifications.
Implement network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure of the vCenter management interface to trusted networks and users.
Employ application-layer filtering or email gateway controls to detect and block suspicious SMTP header manipulations.
Once VMware releases official patches or updates addressing CVE-2025-41250, prioritize their deployment in all affected environments.
Conduct regular security audits and vulnerability scans focused on vCenter configurations and user privileges.
Educate administrators about the risks of granting scheduled task creation rights to non-administrative users.
Consider deploying endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions on vCenter servers to detect anomalous command execution patterns. These steps go beyond generic advice by focusing on permission management, monitoring, and layered defenses specific to the vulnerability's exploitation vector.

Description

VMware vCenter contains an SMTP header injection vulnerability. A malicious actor with non-administrative privileges on vCenter who has permission to create scheduled tasks may be able to manipulate the notification emails sent for scheduled tasks.

Impact

The exploitation of CVE-2025-41250 can lead to unauthorized command execution on VMware vCenter servers, compromising the integrity of the virtualization management environment. This can allow attackers to manipulate or disrupt scheduled task notifications, potentially pivot to other systems, or execute malicious payloads within the vCenter context. The impact on confidentiality is minimal as no direct data leakage is indicated, but integrity is severely affected. Availability impact is low but could increase if attackers disrupt critical management functions. Organizations relying heavily on VMware vCenter for managing virtual infrastructure, especially those with multiple users having scheduled task creation privileges, face increased risk of internal or external attacks. This could lead to operational disruptions, unauthorized changes to virtual environments, and potential lateral movement within the network. The vulnerability's remote exploitability and low privilege requirement increase the attack surface, making it attractive for threat actors targeting enterprise virtualization platforms.

CWE-77Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in a Command ('Command Injection') (opens in a new tab)
Class weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #23OWASP Top 10 A05:2025: Injection (opens in a new tab)
The product constructs all or part of a command using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the intended command when it is sent to a downstream component.
Architecture and Design
If at all possible, use library calls rather than external processes to recreate the desired functionality.
Implementation
If possible, ensure that all external commands called from the program are statically created.
Implementation · Input Validation
Assume all input is malicious. Use an "accept known good" input validation strategy, i.e., use a list of acceptable inputs that strictly conform to specifications. Reject any input that does not strictly conform to specifications, or transform it into something that does.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Abuse Case (opens in a new tab)
Deserialization (opens in a new tab)
Injection Prevention (opens in a new tab)
SQL Injection Prevention (opens in a new tab)
Injection Prevention in Java (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V1.5.1 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
LDAP Injection (opens in a new tab)
Command Delimiters (opens in a new tab)
IMAP/SMTP Command Injection (opens in a new tab)
Manipulating Writeable Terminal Devices (opens in a new tab)
Exploiting Multiple Input Interpretation Layers (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

support.broadcom.com/web/ecx/support-content-notification/-/external/content/SecurityAdvisories/0/36150 (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 27 Feb 2026, 02:02 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-77

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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