Exploited. On CISA's list since 2024-11-20.

VMware vCenter Server Heap-Based Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

CVE-2024-38812 · VMware vCenter Server · Published 2024-09-17

How bad would it be?

9.8 out of 10

CVSS rates it critical: about as damaging as flaws get.

How likely is it to be used?

55%

Estimated chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, among the top 1% of all scored flaws (EPSS, 2026-10-29).

Is it already being used?

Yes

CISA has seen it exploited in real attacks. For US government agencies the fix is deadline passed 688 days ago (2024-12-11).

What CISA says to do

Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

VMware vCenter Server contains a heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability in the implementation of the DCERPC protocol. This vulnerability could allow an attacker with network access to the vCenter Server to execute remote code by sending a specially crafted packet.

What the flaw is

The vCenter Server contains a heap-overflow vulnerability in the implementation of the DCERPC protocol. A malicious actor with network access to vCenter Server may trigger this vulnerability by sending a specially crafted network packet potentially leading to remote code execution.

From the NVD.

Fixes and advisories

support.broadcom.comVendor Advisory

Learn this

Explore this week’s weaknesses and all learning topics

Understand the kind of weakness behind this flaw. These resources teach the weakness, rather than reproduce this specific CVE. Follow the vendor's advice above to fix the affected product.

Heap buffer overflow

A write runs past allocated heap storage and can damage neighbouring data.

CWE-122 · CISA KEV; NVD record: security@vmware.com

Video course · Free course. C programming and memory concepts are useful; covers several weakness types.

Watch the course at OpenSecurityTraining2 How it is prevented

Out-of-bounds write

A program writes outside the memory region it is allowed to use.

CWE-787 · NVD record: nvd@nist.gov

Video course · Free course. C programming and memory concepts are useful; covers several weakness types.

Watch the course at OpenSecurityTraining2 How it is prevented

CWE is a catalogue of weakness types. Labels come from the sources shown and can differ or change. Resource matches reviewed 16 October 2026.

On SentryFeed

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Exploited flaws from CISA's KEV catalogue. Chance of exploitation from EPSS by FIRST. Descriptions and scores from the NVD. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.