VMSA-2026-0008.1 — Apply KB 460732 on 9.1.1 or KB 460734 on 9.0.x, 9.1.0 and 5.2.x, restrict SDDC Manager to trusted admin hosts, and subscribe to the advisory for the patch.
Details →If you run vSAN File Services and came to 9.1 from anything older than 9.0, today's vSAN 9.1.1.0200 patch is for you. Released this morning, it fixes a problem where files and directories created before 9.0 can become unreachable over SMB after the upgrade, and that includes staged upgrades through 9.0.x. Broadcom has replaced the earlier 9.1.x File Services builds on the Support Portal with this one, so it's the build to use from now on.
There's no new VMSA this morning, and vCenter CVE-2026-59310 is still the one to patch first.
Elsewhere, VKS Add-ons v3.8.0+20261021 brings two new Helm-based add-ons, External Secrets Operator and Tekton, with an Istio two-step hop and a Telegraf check to plan for. The Register reports that Tesco is hiring someone to move its store edge estate from VMware to Proxmox, and VMware's VCF readiness tool has a 9.9.7 bugfix release. KBs and the Terraform providers are unchanged since last week. The deep dive looks at how binaries reach an air-gapped VCF 9.1 fleet: the three software depot modes and the VCF Download Tool.
This is an earlier briefing. Read today's Latest Tech News →
No new VMSA today, so these are the four most recently released or updated advisories; Broadcom's advisory portal has the rest. vCenter CVE-2026-59310 (VMSA-2026-0006) is still the one to patch first. On PHP2Shell, Broadcom's statements for VCF (KB 459989), vDefend (KB 460110) and Avi (KB 460068) are unchanged: not affected. None of them yet covers the newer PHP flaw CVE-2026-115560, and Broadcom hasn't published a statement on the Brotli decoder flaw CVE-2026-111497.
For desktop hypervisors: Workstation and Fusion 25H2 and 26H1, CVSSv3 8.1 to 9.3. Both CVEs need local admin rights inside a guest and can lead to code execution on the host; the advisory makes no statement on exploitation. First published 3 Sep 2026.
DoUpdate Workstation and Fusion to 26H1u1. There's no workaround, so if you run nested labs on a laptop, do it soon.
This is the one to prioritise. It covers vCenter, ESX, Workstation and Fusion (and so VCF, VVF and Telco Cloud), with CVSSv3 scores from 2.7 to 9.8 and no workarounds. CISA added CVE-2026-59310, a vCenter Syslog directory traversal, to its KEV catalogue on 18 Aug 2026 with known ransomware use; the Broadcom advisory itself makes no statement on exploitation. First published 29 Jul 2026.
DoPatch vCenter to 9.1.0.0300, 9.0.2.0100 or 8.0 U3k / U2f (VCF 5.x: async patch per KB 88287; 7.0 extended-support customers should contact Broadcom). For ESX, apply ESXi-9.1.0.0200-25557999, ESXi-9.0.2.0100-25595025, ESXi80U3k-25595708 or ESXi80U2f-25626445. A vCenter that has been reachable and unpatched is safest treated as possibly compromised.
If you run Avi Load Balancer (including for VKS or VCF Automation), this one matters. Seven CVEs, CVSSv3 7.1 to 9.8, no workarounds. The worst, CVE-2026-47865, is an authentication bypass on the Avi control plane, and two others allow remote code execution (the advisory also describes code execution for CVE-2026-47870). The advisory makes no statement on exploitation. First published 14 Jul 2026; revision .1 on 7 Aug added a 22.1.7-2p12 patch.
DoUpgrade 32.1.x to 32.1.2 or later (the advisory's recommended fix), 31.1.1–31.2.2 to 31.2.2-2p3, and 30.1.1–30.2.6 to 30.2.7. On 22.1.x, 22.1.7-2p12 fixes CVE-2026-47865, but the matrix lists 30.2.7 for the other six CVEs, so plan the move to 30.2.7.
Three stored cross-site scripting flaws in VCF Operations and Aria Operations, each CVSSv3 8.0. Someone with rights to create policies, views or text widgets could plant scripts that perform administrative actions. No workarounds, and no statement on exploitation. First published 8 Jun 2026.
DoVCF Operations 9.1.x is fixed from 9.1.0.0 and 9.0.x needs 9.0.2.0 EP2. Aria Operations 8.x and Aria Operations under VCF 5.x need 8.18.7 to fix all three (Telco Cloud Platform: KB 443138).
All VMware security advisories on Broadcom's support portal →
No new VMware KBs worth flagging since last week, and the ones we're tracking haven't moved. KB 457944 (Supervisor control plane VMs missing after a 9.1 upgrade) still says the fix is "in the next release of VCF 9.1.1", although the Supervisor 9.1.1.0100 release notes already list it as resolved. KB 458671 (NSX Manager hanging on startup when host-based agent VM services are deployed) and KB 452660 (SCRX after an NSX 9.0.1 to 9.1.1 upgrade) still name no fix version, and KB 456305 (VCF Operations certificate alerts) still says a fix is planned for an upcoming release.
One new patch today: vSAN 9.1.1.0200, for vSAN File Services. It isn't listed on the vSAN 9.1.1.x patch page yet, but its own release notes are published. Otherwise the newest batch of 9.1.1.x patches is still 12 October, and there's no 9.1.2 or 9.2 line.
Nothing new from the providers or the Packer plugins, so vcf 0.19.0 is still the one to use for VCF 9.1.1. The vcf provider README lists VCF 9.1.1 support from v0.19.0, and the v0.19.0 release (7 Oct) is still marked latest. The vsphere provider is still on 2.17.1, vcfa on 1.2.3, and the vsphere and vmware Packer plugins on 2.5.0 and 2.1.6. The VPC load balancer work in the nsxt provider is still the thing to watch for its next release.
Otherwise unchanged: VCF.PowerCLI 9.1.1.25718932 (10 Sep), pyVmomi 9.1.1.0 (3 Sep), govmomi v0.56.1 (23 Oct) and the VCF SDK for Python 9.1.1.0 are still current, and vmware.vmware is still at 2.12.0.
Every upgrade, patch and new workload domain in VCF 9.1 starts with the software depot having the right binaries, and in a locked-down site that's where most of the friction is. TechDocs describes three connection modes, set in VCF Operations under Build > Software Depot. Connected mode downloads straight from Broadcom, directly or through a proxy. Offline Depot mode points at a private web server you fill yourself, and the depot "proxies requests from VCF components to the privately owned server" rather than storing the binaries locally. Disconnected mode is for sites with neither: you download on an internet-connected machine and upload the binaries to the depot by hand.
Whichever mode you pick, the authorisation model changed in 9.1. Instead of the old download token, you generate a software depot ID, register it in the VCF Business Services console under the right tenant and site, and enter the activation code it gives you when you set the connection mode (the Download Tool reads the same code from a one-line text file). A fresh 9.1 deployment inherits its depot settings from the VCF Installer, but if you upgraded from 5.2 or 9.0.x you have to run the configuration yourself. Proxies using Kerberos or NTLMv2 authentication aren't supported, and if your proxy does TLS interception the depot may fail to reach Broadcom's authorisation server until you add the proxy's CA to its truststore (KB 442978).
The VCF Download Tool is the piece that does the fetching, and Broadcom is blunt that it's "the only supported method for downloading binaries". You need 9.1.1 or later of the tool. The core commands are binaries list and binaries download with --sku VCF (or VVF), --vcf-version, --type INSTALL or UPGRADE and --depot-download-activation-code-file, plus esx download for ESX image data, and from 9.1.1 artifacts download for OCI artefacts such as the Supervisor. Since 9.1.1 the tool returns only the latest versions by default; add --latest false if you need older ones.
In production, the gotchas are mostly about trust and housekeeping. If the offline depot serves HTTPS with a private CA, the connection-mode procedure has you import that certificate into SDDC Manager's certificate store and restart its lifecycle manager service, otherwise the depot connection simply fails. Deleting binaries also works differently by mode: from the Binary Management tab when connected or offline, but with the Download Tool's cleanup command when disconnected. And note that the SDDC Manager 9.1.1.0200 release notes list a known issue where Binary Management shows error banners or missing statuses once it lists 90 or more bundles, so keep the depot tidy.
For a nested lab, the SDN-Warrior walkthrough is a good practical model: an Apache server with HTTPS and basic auth, a 1 TB data disk, and the certificate imported into the VCF Installer's Java keystore with keytool (the Java path moved from Java 17 in 9.0 to Java 21 in 9.1). The install binaries alone come to more than 300 GB, and the default ESX configuration pulls patches back to 6.7, so trim it with esx configuration before you start. Run the downloads inside tmux, set TCP keepalive in your SSH client, and re-run the same command later to fetch only what's new.
No new exam or course announcements this week. If you want hands-on time with 9.1 without building it yourself, the Hands-on Labs catalogue now carries the VCF 9.1 HOL-27xx series, with a mapping from the retired 9.0 lab numbers.
Tags: Official Broadcom and VMware sources, Press trade press, Community community posts and unverified reports.
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