VulnerabilityPublished 27 Feb 2026

CVE-2026-22716: VMware Workstation · Out-of-bounds Write

Affects VMware WorkstationSource CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.0 Medium : upgrade to 25H2U1 when convenient.

Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 11:52 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.0Medium

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

EPSS: 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 7% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 25H2U1

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

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

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

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: Required: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a user to take some action before the vulnerability can be exploited.
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: Low: Modification of data is possible, but the attacker does not have control over the consequence of a modification, or the amount of modification is limited. The data modification does not have a direct, serious impact on 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 27 Feb 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: 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 30 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.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), 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

Upgrade VMware Workstation to 25H2U1.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
VMwareWorkstation	Affected >=25H2 <25H2U1	Fixed in 25H2U1

AI-suggested

Restrict guest VM user permissions to the minimum necessary, avoiding untrusted or unnecessary users with access to guest systems.
Monitor VMware Workstation processes for unexpected terminations or crashes to detect potential exploitation attempts.
Implement host-level security controls such as application whitelisting and process monitoring to detect anomalous behavior.
Once VMware releases patches addressing CVE-2026-22716, apply them promptly across all affected Workstation installations.
Consider isolating critical virtual machines on separate hosts or using alternative virtualization solutions until patches are available.
Educate users about the risks of interacting with untrusted content or software within guest VMs to reduce user interaction exploitation vectors.
Regularly audit and update virtualization software to maintain security posture.

Description

Out-of-bound write vulnerability in VMware Workstation 25H1 and below on any platform allows an actor with non-administrative privileges on a guest VM to terminate certain Workstation processes.

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2026-22716 is on the availability and integrity of VMware Workstation host processes. An attacker with access to a guest VM can cause certain Workstation processes to terminate unexpectedly, potentially leading to denial of service conditions for virtual machines running on the host. This can disrupt development, testing, or production environments relying on VMware Workstation, causing operational downtime and loss of productivity. Since the vulnerability does not allow privilege escalation or direct host compromise, the confidentiality impact is minimal. However, in environments where multiple users share access to guest VMs, an attacker could intentionally disrupt services or cause instability. Organizations relying heavily on VMware Workstation for critical workflows or multi-user environments are at greater risk. The lack of known exploits reduces immediate threat but does not eliminate the need for proactive mitigation.

CWE-787Out-of-bounds Write (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #5
The product writes data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer.
Requirements · Language Selection
Use a language that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
Architecture and Design · Libraries or Frameworks
Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
Operation · Build and Compilation · Environment Hardening
Use automatic buffer overflow detection mechanisms that are offered by certain compilers or compiler extensions. Examples include: the Microsoft Visual Studio /GS flag, Fedora/Red Hat FORTIFY_SOURCE GCC flag, StackGuard, and ProPolice, which provide various mechanisms including canary-based detection and range/index…
OWASP Cheat Sheets
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
Mass Assignment (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V13.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.3 (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/0/36986 (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, 19:27 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-787

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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