VMware Workstation Pro/Player contains an insecure library loading vulnerability via ALSA sound driver configuration files. Successful exploitation of this issue may allow unprivileged host users to escalate their privileges to root in a Linux host machine.
CVE-2017-4915
Score 7.8 from GitHub Security Advisory (severity: HIGH) published 2022-05-13. NVD baseline CVSS 7.8; sources differ by 0.0.
- High severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet
No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.
- CVSS v3
- 7.8
- EG Score
- 7.8(medium)
- EPSS
- 91.7%
- KEV
- Not listed
Published
May 22, 2017
Last Modified
May 13, 2026
References (8)
- security@vmwarehttp://www.securityfocus.com/bid/98566
- security@vmwarehttp://www.securitytracker.com/id/1038525
- security@vmwarehttps://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/42045/
- security@vmwarehttps://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2017-0009.html
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/98566
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1038525
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/42045/
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2017-0009.html
Data Freshness Timeline
(refreshed 10× in last 7d / 39× in last 30d)
Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.
- 2026-07-06 16:24 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-05-22 13:09 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-05-22 13:09 UTCGHSA enrichment
- 2026-05-21 22:40 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-05-18 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore
Publicly available exploits
(3 references)Working exploit code is in the public domain (1 Metasploit module) (2 Exploit-DB entries). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.
- Exploit-DBEDB-47171First seen Dec 30, 2018
VMware Workstation/Player < 12.5.5 - Local Privilege Escalation
Open source ↗ - Exploit-DBEDB-42045✓ verifiedFirst seen May 22, 2017
VMware Workstation for Linux 12.5.2 build-4638234 - ALSA Configuration Host Local Privilege Escalation
Open source ↗ - Metasploitexploit/linux/local/vmware_alsa_config✓ verifiedFirst seen May 22, 2017
VMware Workstation ALSA Config File Local Privilege Escalation
Open source ↗
Frequently asked(5)
What is CVE-2017-4915?
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What is the CVSS score of CVE-2017-4915?
How do I remediate CVE-2017-4915?
Dependency Blast Radius
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