CVE-2024-37085: in the CISA KEV catalogue
VMware ESXi Authentication Bypass Vulnerability. CISA added CVE-2024-37085 to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on 2024-07-30 with a default due date of 2024-08-20. Known ransomware campaign use: Known. Forensic triage flag: No.
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 by re-creating the configured AD group ('ESXi Admins' by default) after it was deleted from AD. (CISA description)
- Vendor / product
- VMware ESXi
- CWE
- CWE-305
- CISA required action
- Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
- EPSS
- 27%, percentile 98 (scored 2026-11-03)
EPSS puts about 27 in 100 odds (27%) on exploitation activity being observed in the next 30 days. Its score is higher than or equal to that of 98% of scored CVEs. This is a model estimate about exploitation anywhere, not about your environment.
Vendor and reference links (from CISA)
Your own deadline under CISA BOD 26-04 depends on exposure, automatability and technical impact: work it out with the BOD 26-04 calculator.
Frequently asked questions
Is CVE-2024-37085 in the CISA KEV catalogue?
Yes. CISA added CVE-2024-37085 (VMware ESXi Authentication Bypass Vulnerability) to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on 2024-07-30. CISA's default due date for it is 2024-08-20.
Is CVE-2024-37085 used in ransomware attacks?
CISA marks known ransomware campaign use as Known for CVE-2024-37085.
What should I do about CVE-2024-37085?
CISA's required action: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
Sources
- CISA, Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog (accessed 2026-11-03)
- FIRST, Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS) (EPSS by FIRST; scores generated by Empirical Security)
- NVD record for CVE-2024-37085