Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2025-22224 is a critical VMware virtualization escape risk. An attacker who already has high control inside a virtual machine may be able to run code in the host-side VMX process, threatening isolation between guest and host systems.
Executive priority
Treat this as urgent because it affects virtualization boundaries and is listed in CISA KEV. Prioritize systems hosting sensitive or shared workloads, then confirm vendor-supported remediation across VMware estate owners.
Technical view
The issue is a TOCTOU race condition mapped to CWE-367 that can cause an out-of-bounds write. The source states exploitation requires local administrative privileges on a VM and can lead to code execution as the VMX process on the host.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most relevant to environments running affected VMware ESXi 7.0/8.0, Workstation 17.x, VMware Cloud Foundation 4.5.x/5.x, and listed Telco Cloud platform or infrastructure versions. Validate exact build exposure against Broadcom guidance.
Exploitation context
CISA KEV listing indicates known exploitation. The provided sources do not describe exploit volume, targeted sectors, exploit maturity, or public exploit availability, so those details should not be assumed.
Researcher notes
The strongest evidence is vendor and CVE data plus CISA KEV status. The bundle does not include fixed build numbers, workaround details, or exploitation telemetry beyond known exploitation, so validation should stay anchored to Broadcom's advisory.
Mitigation direction
- Review Broadcom advisory for fixed versions and supported remediation paths.
- Prioritize patching exposed ESXi and Workstation assets handling untrusted or shared workloads.
- Restrict administrative access inside guest VMs wherever operationally possible.
- Increase monitoring for suspicious VMX process behavior until remediation is complete.
Validation and detection
- Inventory VMware ESXi, Workstation, Cloud Foundation, and Telco Cloud versions.
- Compare installed builds against Broadcom's CVE-2025-22224 advisory.
- Confirm whether affected systems host untrusted, multi-tenant, or high-value workloads.
- Verify remediation through patch records and vulnerability scanner rechecks.
Public sources used
Michael Williams reviewed this cited source version on .
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-367: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2025-22224 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Critical
- CVSS
- 9.3 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- Yes
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CISA KEV status
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H2.56Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
9.3CriticalVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://support.broadcom.com/web/ecx/support-content-notification/-/external/content/SecurityAdvisories/0/25390CVE reference
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2025-22224CVE reference · government-resource
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition
Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.