Hayden

Have you heard about the critical security vulnerabilities recently discovered in VMware products? On March 4th, VMware by Broadcom announced three severe vulnerabilities – CVE-2025-22224, CVE-2025-22225, and CVE-2025-22226 – that are being actively exploited in the wild. These vulnerabilities are so critical that CISA (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency) added them to their Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, mandating patches by March 25, 2025.

Many professionals use VMware Workstation for business and development environments. This guide provides step-by-step instructions to help anyone easily apply these seemingly complex security updates.

 

 

1. Critical! Vulnerability Status You Need to Check Immediately

Why These Vulnerabilities Are So Dangerous

These vulnerabilities, discovered by Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center, are already being used in real-world attacks, making them particularly serious. If an attacker gains administrative privileges within a virtual machine, they can escape to the host system – a dangerous scenario.

Key Vulnerabilities VMware Workstation Users Must Know

CVE-2025-22224 (CVSS: 9.3 – Critical)

  • Affected Products: ESXi, Workstation
  • Risk: TOCTOU vulnerability enabling VMX process code execution

CVE-2025-22225 (CVSS: 8.2 – High)

  • Affected Products: ESXi only
  • Risk: Arbitrary write leading to sandbox escape

CVE-2025-22226 (CVSS: 7.1 – High)

  • Affected Products: ESXi, Workstation, Fusion
  • Risk: HGFS information disclosure

Important Note: According to the official Broadcom security advisory, CVE-2025-22225 specifically affects VMware ESXi only. VMware Workstation users should focus on CVE-2025-22224 and CVE-2025-22226.

VMware ESXi [CVE-2025-22224] TOCTOU Vulnerability Patch

 

 

2. Quick Method to Check If Your System Is Vulnerable

Checking Your Current Version

Launch VMware Workstation and follow these steps:

  1. Click Help → About VMware Workstation Pro
  2. If the version is below 17.6.3, immediate update required
  3. Version 17.6.3 or higher indicates a secure state

Vulnerable Version List

The following versions require immediate updates:

  • VMware Workstation Pro/Player 17.0 through 17.6.2 (all versions)
  • Older 16.x versions (upgrade recommended due to end of support)

 

 

3. Completely Free! VMware Workstation 17.6.3 Download and Installation

Great News: Now Completely Free

Since November 11, 2024, VMware Workstation Pro has become completely free for commercial, educational, and personal use. License keys are no longer required!

Official Download Links

The safest official download sources:

Windows Version:

Linux Version:

Pre-Installation Requirements

  1. Backup Essential: Back up existing virtual machine files to a safe location
  2. Shut Down Running VMs: Completely shut down all virtual machines
  3. Administrator Rights: On Windows, right-click → “Run as administrator”

 

 

4. Step-by-Step Update Installation Guide

Installation on Windows

  1. Close Existing VMware Workstation
    • Ensure complete shutdown from system tray
    • Check Task Manager for any remaining vmware processes
  2. Run Installation File 
    VMware-workstation-full-17.6.3-24583834.exe
    • Right-click → “Run as administrator”
    • Allow through Windows Defender or antivirus software
  3. Select Installation Options
    • Enhanced Keyboard Driver: Recommended to check
    • Add VMware Workstation to PATH: Recommended to check
    • Check for product updates on startup: Recommended to check
  4. License Step
    • No license key input required
    • Select “Use VMware Workstation for free”

Installation on Linux

# Grant execution permissions to downloaded installation file
chmod +x VMware-Workstation-Full-17.6.3-24583834.x86_64.bundle

# Run installation with administrator privileges
sudo ./VMware-Workstation-Full-17.6.3-24583834.x86_64.bundle

 

 

5. Essential Verification After Installation

Version Confirmation

Always verify the version after installation:

  1. Launch VMware Workstation
  2. Check “17.6.3” in Help → About menu
  3. Verify Build number: 24583834

Virtual Machine Compatibility Testing

Verify that existing virtual machines work correctly:

  1. Boot test important virtual machines one by one
  2. Check network connection status
  3. Verify shared folder functionality

 

 

6. Specific Issues Resolved in This Update

Security Vulnerability Resolution

Version 17.6.3 completely resolves CVE-2025-22224 and CVE-2025-22226 security vulnerabilities.

Additional Bug Fixes

  • Windows 11 Compatibility Improvement: Resolved issue where virtual machines became unresponsive after screen lock/unlock on Windows 11 hosts
  • System Stability Enhancement: Fixed crash issues during virtual machine boot on certain systems
  • CentOS 9 Stream Support: Resolved installation errors occurring with kernel versions above 5.14.0-432

 

 

7. Troubleshooting Common Update Issues

Common Installation Errors

Issue: “Another version of this product is already installed” Solution: Completely remove existing VMware Workstation from Control Panel, then reinstall

Issue: Compilation errors on Linux Solution:

# Install necessary development tools
sudo apt update && sudo apt install build-essential linux-headers-$(uname -r)
# Or for Red Hat-based systems
sudo yum groupinstall "Development Tools"
sudo yum install kernel-devel-$(uname -r)

Virtual Machine Compatibility Issues

Issue: Existing virtual machines won’t boot Solution:

  1. Upgrade Hardware Compatibility to 17.x in virtual machine settings
  2. Use VM → Manage → Change Hardware Compatibility menu

 

 

8. Additional Security Hardening Methods

Automated Regular Updates

In VMware Workstation settings:

  1. Help → Software Updates
  2. Enable Check for updates automatically

Virtual Machine Security Configuration

  • VM Encryption: Use encryption features for critical virtual machines
  • Snapshot Management: Create regular clean snapshots for rollback preparation
  • Network Isolation: Isolate critical work VMs using NAT mode

 

 

9. Additional Information for VMware ESXi Users

CVE-2025-22225 is a vulnerability specific to ESXi only. For ESXi users:

Applicable Patch Versions

  • ESXi 8.0: ESXi80U3d-24585383 or ESXi80U2d-24585300
  • ESXi 7.0: ESXi70U3s-24585291

For detailed information, refer to the VMware Official Security Advisory.

 

 

The CVE-2025-22224, CVE-2025-22225, and CVE-2025-22226 vulnerabilities represent serious security threats that are actively being exploited in real-world attacks. VMware Workstation users should immediately update to version 17.6.3. Fortunately, VMware Workstation is now completely free, allowing everyone to use the latest version without cost concerns. Security isn’t a one-time update but requires ongoing management, so remember to maintain regular updates going forward.

If you encounter issues during installation or have additional questions, you can get help through the Broadcom Official Support Page.

 

 

Leave a Reply