VMware patches critical virtual machine escape flaws

From InfoWorld: VMware has released critical security patches for vulnerabilities demonstrated during the recent Pwn2Own hacking contest that could be exploited to escape from the isolation of virtual machines.

The patches fix four vulnerabilities that affect VMware ESXi, VMware Workstation Pro and Player, and VMware Fusion.

Two of the vulnerabilities, tracked as CVE-2017-4902 and CVE-2017-4903 in the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures database, were exploited by a team from Chinese internet security firm Qihoo 360 as part of an attack demonstrated two weeks ago at Pwn2Own.

The team's exploit chain started with a compromise of Microsoft Edge, moved to the Windows kernel, and then exploited the two flaws to escape from a virtual machine and execute code on the host operating system. The researchers were awarded $105,000 for their feat.

Pwn2Own is an annual hacking contest organized by Trend Micro's Zero Day Initiative (ZDI) program that runs during the CanSecWest conference in Vancouver, Canada. Researchers receive cash prizes for demonstrating zero-day -- previously unknown -- exploits against browsers, operating systems and other popular enterprise software programs.

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