CVE-2024-37085

VMware ESXi contains an authentication bypass vulnerability. A malicious actor with sufficient Active Directory (AD) permissions can gain full access to an ESXi host that was previously configured to use AD for user management https://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2012/09/joining-vsphere-hosts-to-active-directory.html by re-creating the configured AD group ('ESXi Admins' by default) after it was deleted from AD.

First PoC 2024-08-02
806 days →First cited attacker 2026-10-17

Exploited in the wild: Yesadded 2024-07-30 · due 2024-08-20 · known ransomware use. An observation, not a forecast.
EPSS · 30-day forecast: 27%Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, 98th percentile of all CVEs. A forecast; KEV outranks it.
CVSS · NVD · MEDIUM: 6.8CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Internet exposure: not stated by sourcesNo exposure census on this CVE's dispatches.

Exploits

3 known · links only

GitHub PoCs · by trust, then stars3

mahmutaymahmutay/CVE-2024-37085 ↗Trust ok 100
Vulnerability Scanner for CVE-2024-37085 and Exploits ( For Educational Purpose only)
★ 2 · created 2024-08-02
WTN-arny/CVE-2024-37085 ↗Trust ok 100
★ 0 · created 2024-08-18
WTN-arny/Vmware-ESXI ↗Trust ok 100
CVE-2024-37085 unauthenticated shell upload to full administrator on domain-joined esxi hypervisors.
★ 0 · created 2024-08-12

Fake proof-of-concept repositories have been used to deliver malware to the researchers who run them. The trust verdict is our engine's heuristic over the repository (account age, what it ships, how its stars arrived); it is a reason to read the code first, not a finding about its author.

On the wire

0 dispatches

No dispatch on our wire has named this CVE yet.

Cited as exploited by

Storm-0506
1. “Earlier this year, an engineering firm in North America was affected by a Black Basta ransomware deployment by Storm-0506. During this attack, the threat actor used the CVE-2024-37085 vulnerability to gain elevated privileges to the ESXi hypervisors within the organization.”
  cited as exploiting · source: microsoft.com ↗ · 2026-10-17
blackbyte
1. “In recent investigations, Talos IR has also observed BlackByte using techniques that depart from their established tradecraft, such as exploiting CVE-2024-37085 – an authentication bypass vulnerability in VMware ESXi – shortly after it was disclosed”
  cited as exploiting · source: blog.talosintelligence.com ↗ · 2026-10-17
2. “BlackByte has exploited CVE-2024-37085 in VMWare ESXi software for authentication bypass and subsequent privilege escalation.”
  cited as exploiting · source: attack.mitre.org ↗ · 2026-10-17

Each actor is cited by the quoted source, linked under the quote. A citation is that source's claim, not our confirmation.

References

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Signals

Exploits

GitHub PoCs · by trust, then stars3

On the wire

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