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  • https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/23/critical_vmware_vcenter_server_bug/

Patch or die: VMware vCenter Server bug fixed in 2024 under attack today

The Register
·
Jessica Lyons
·
Published Jan 23, 2026
·
Updated

You've got to keep your software updated. Some unknown miscreants are exploiting a critical VMware vCenter Server bug more than a year after Broadcom patched the flaw. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2024-37079, is an out-of-bounds write flaw in vCenter Server's implementation of the DCERPC protocol that earned a 9.8 out of 10 CVSS rating. In other words: it's almost as bad as it gets. DCERPC, which stands for Distributed Computing Environment/Remote Procedure Calls, allows software to invoke procedures and services on a remote system across a network. This bug can be abused by someone with network access to vCenter Server to send specially crafted network packets, potentially leading to remote code execution, and on Friday, both the vendor and the feds warned that this - or something along these lines - is happening. "Broadcom has information to suggest that exploitation of CVE-2024-37079 has occurred in the wild," the vendor warned in an update to its June 18, 2024 security advisory. Also on Friday, the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) added this critical security hole to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) Catalog. This means federal agencies must patch the flaw by February 13 - again, we must note that Broadcom issued a software update that fixes this CVE more than a year and a half ago, and June 2024 would have been the optimal time to deploy the patch. CISA's KEV lists the bug's use in ransomware campaigns as "unknown," and Broadcom did...

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Affected Software

1 affected component
Broadcom vCenter Server>=7.0
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Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is the main topic of this article?

The article discusses a critical vulnerability in VMware vCenter Server that is currently being exploited.

2

What security implications are discussed?

The security implications include the urgent need for organizations to patch the vulnerability to prevent exploitation.

3

What software is affected by this vulnerability?

The affected software is Broadcom vCenter Server, specifically from version 7.0 onwards.

4

What is the CVE identifier for the vulnerability in question?

The vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2024-37079.

5

How long after the patch was the vulnerability exploited?

The vulnerability was exploited more than a year after it was patched by Broadcom.

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