CVE-2021-22040
VMware ESXi, Workstation, and Fusion contain a use-after-free vulnerability in the XHCI USB...
VMware ESXi, Workstation, and Fusion contain a use-after-free vulnerability in the XHCI USB controller. A malicious actor with local administrative privileges on a virtual machine may exploit this issue to execute code as the virtual machine's VMX process running on the host.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- High
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
NVD Score used
VMware ESXi, Workstation, and Fusion contain a use-after-free vulnerability in the XHCI USB controller. A malicious actor with local administrative privileges on a virtual machine may exploit this issue to execute code as the virtual machine's VMX process running on the host.
- Record
CVE-2021-22040- CVSS 3.1
- 6.7 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 4.6 Medium
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P - Weakness
- CWE-416
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
CVE List No score
VMware ESXi, Workstation, and Fusion contain a use-after-free vulnerability in the XHCI USB controller. A malicious actor with local administrative privileges on a virtual machine may exploit this issue to execute code as the virtual machine's VMX process running on the host.
- Record
CVE-2021-22040- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2021-9209 No score
VMware ESXi, Workstation, and Fusion contain a use-after-free vulnerability in the XHCI USB controller. A malicious actor with local administrative privileges on a virtual machine may exploit this issue to execute code as the virtual machine's VMX process running on the host.
- Record
EUVD-2021-9209- Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-4pf4-vf9p-vxx6 No score
VMware ESXi, Workstation, and Fusion contain a use-after-free vulnerability in the XHCI USB...
VMware ESXi, Workstation, and Fusion contain a use-after-free vulnerability in the XHCI USB controller. A malicious actor with local administrative privileges on a virtual machine may exploit this issue to execute code as the virtual machine's VMX process running on the host.
- Record
GHSA-4pf4-vf9p-vxx6- Weakness
- CWE-416
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2021-22040 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 6.7) in Vmware Esxi, published February 16, 2022. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.73%, the 54th percentile. No source names a fixed version.