An Open VM Tools security update has been released for Ubuntu Linux 16.04 LTS and 18.04 LTS.

[USN-6365-2] Open VM Tools vulnerability

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Ubuntu Security Notice USN-6365-2
September 25, 2023

open-vm-tools vulnerability
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A security issue affects these releases of Ubuntu and its derivatives:

- Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Available with Ubuntu Pro)
- Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Available with Ubuntu Pro)

Summary:

Open VM Tools could allow unintended access to network services.

Software Description:
- open-vm-tools: Open VMware Tools for virtual machines hosted on VMware

Details:

USN-6365-1 fixed a vulnerability in Open VM Tools. This update provides
the corresponding update for Ubuntu 16.04 LTS and Ubuntu 18.04 LTS.

Original advisory details:

It was discovered that Open VM Tools incorrectly handled SAML tokens. A
remote attacker could possibly use this issue to bypass SAML token
signature verification and perform VMware Tools Guest Operations.

Update instructions:

The problem can be corrected by updating your system to the following
package versions:

Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Available with Ubuntu Pro):
open-vm-tools 2:11.0.5-4ubuntu0.18.04.3+esm2

Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Available with Ubuntu Pro):
open-vm-tools 2:10.2.0-3~ubuntu0.16.04.1+esm3

In general, a standard system update will make all the necessary changes.

References:
https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-6365-2
https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-6365-1
CVE-2023-20900