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Vulnerabilities/CVE-2019-5544
Vulnerability dossier

CVE-2019-5544

OpenSLP Heap Overwrite in VMware ESXi and Horizon DaaS

VendorvmwarePublishedDec 6, 2019SourceNVDWeaknessCWE-787
Act now

Actively exploited in the wild. Patch or mitigate immediately — don't wait for a maintenance window.

Severity
Critical · 9.8
CVSS base score
Exploitation
In the wild
CISA KEV
Predicted risk
97% model
EPSS forecast — overtaken by confirmed exploitation
Exposure
Internet-facing
Exploitable remotely, no login, no user action
01

What's the risk?

An unauthenticated attacker, remotely over the network, with no user interaction, can fully compromise the system — steal data, tamper with it and take it offline.

OpenSLP as used in ESXi and the Horizon DaaS appliances has a heap overwrite issue. VMware has evaluated the severity of this issue to be in the Critical severity range with a maximum CVSSv3 base score of 9.8.

How it's exploitedMITRE ATT&CK · inferred from weakness & vector
Initial Access
T1190Exploit Public-Facing Application

Inferred from the weakness type (CWE) and how the flaw is reached — the techniques an attacker would chain to exploit this. Real-world corroboration appears here as threat intel is folded in.

02

Who's exploiting it?

Corroborated threat activity referencing this CVE — with source and confidence, not inference.

Confirmed exploited in the wild. CISA KEV · catalogued Nov 3, 2021
campaignRansomware campaigns90CISA KEV

Named threat actors and observed ATT&CK techniques appear here as intel feeds are folded in — the ATT&CK chain above stays inferred until then.

03

Are we affected?

100
  • Affectedfedoraproject · fedora30
  • Affected
fedoraproject · fedora
31
  • Affectedopenslp · openslpall versions
  • Affectedredhat · enterprise_linux_desktop6.0
  • Affectedredhat · enterprise_linux_desktop7.0
  • Affectedredhat · enterprise_linux_for_ibm_z_systems7.0_s390x
  • Affectedredhat · enterprise_linux_for_ibm_z_systems6.0_s390x
  • Affectedredhat · enterprise_linux_for_ibm_z_systems_eus7.7_s390x
  • Affectedredhat · enterprise_linux_for_power_big_endian7.0_ppc64
  • Affectedredhat · enterprise_linux_for_power_big_endian6.0_ppc64
  • Affectedredhat · enterprise_linux_for_power_big_endian_eus7.7_ppc64
  • Affectedredhat · enterprise_linux_for_power_little_endian7.0_ppc64le
  • Affectedredhat · enterprise_linux_for_power_little_endian_eus7.7_ppc64le
  • Affectedredhat · enterprise_linux_server7.0
  • Affectedredhat · enterprise_linux_server6.0
  • Affectedredhat · enterprise_linux_server_aus7.7
  • Affectedredhat · enterprise_linux_server_eus7.7
  • Affectedredhat · enterprise_linux_server_tus7.7
  • Affectedredhat · enterprise_linux_workstation6.0
  • Affectedredhat · enterprise_linux_workstation7.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • Affectedvmware · esxi6.0
  • 04

    What to do

    Generated by Wavense from the CVE record — an immediate mitigation and the permanent fix.

    1. !

      Mitigate now

      Restrict network access to the SLP service (port 427 UDP/TCP) on ESXi hosts and Horizon DaaS appliances, ideally isolating them from untrusted networks. If the SLP service is not critical for operational functionality, consider temporarily disabling it to eliminate the attack surface. Implement robust network intrusion detection systems to monitor for anomalous traffic patterns targeting port 427.

    2. ✓

      Permanent fix

      The permanent resolution involves applying the vendor-provided security patches for VMware ESXi and Horizon DaaS. Consult VMware's official security advisories (VMSA-2019-0013) for specific patch versions and upgrade instructions relevant to your environment. Ensure all affected instances are updated to a patched version to remediate the heap overwrite vulnerability.

    Technical details— weakness, CVSS vector & calculator, related CVEs

    Business impact

    An attacker can achieve arbitrary code execution with elevated privileges on affected ESXi hosts or Horizon DaaS appliances. This can lead to a complete compromise of the hypervisor or DaaS environment, giving the attacker full control over all hosted virtual machines, sensitive data, and critical network infrastructure. The business consequences include severe data breaches, system downtime, and potential loss of intellectual property.

    Weakness

    1
    CWE-787Common Weakness Enumeration · MITRE definition

    CVSS 3.1 details

    CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
    0.0
    / 10.0 base
    Critical severity
    CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
    Exploitability metrics
    Attack VectorAV
    Remotely exploitable across a network
    Attack ComplexityAC
    No special conditions required
    Privileges RequiredPR
    No authorization needed
    User InteractionUI
    No user participation needed
    Impact metrics
    ScopeS
    Impact confined to the vulnerable component
    ConfidentialityC
    Total loss of confidentiality
    IntegrityI
    Total loss of integrity
    AvailabilityA
    Total loss of availability

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    0.0
    / 10.0 base
    Critical severity
    Key facts
    CVE ID
    CVE-2019-5544
    Published
    Dec 6, 2019
    Last modified
    Oct 30, 2025
    CVSS
    9.8 (v3.1)
    EPSS
    97.26%
    In CISA KEV
    Yes
    Confidence
    100/100
    Weakness
    CWE-787
    Timeline
    1. Dec 6, 2019Published to NVDNVD
    2. Oct 30, 2025Record last modifiedNVD
    3. Aug 17, 2026AI analysis generatedWavense
    View on NVD