VMware Breached With Historic $150,000 Zero-Day Exploit At Pwn2Own Hackathon
Berlin, Germany – A landmark moment in the world of cybersecurity unfolded on day two of the Pwn2Own hacking competition in Berlin, where an elite hacker from STARLabs SG pulled off the first-ever successful exploit of VMware ESXi — a cornerstone of enterprise virtualisation technology.
Nguyen Hoang Thach, competing under the STARLabs banner, leveraged a previously unknown integer overflow vulnerability to compromise the ESXi hypervisor, walking away with a $150,000 reward and 15 points toward the prestigious Master of PWN title.
The exploit sent shockwaves through both the cybersecurity and enterprise IT communities, not only because of the monetary bounty but due to the unprecedented nature of the breach. Since Pwn2Own’s inception in 2007, VMware’s ESXi platform had never been successfully hacked in competition. Until now.
A Perfect Storm of Security Challenges
This zero-day comes amid a turbulent time for enterprise security. In recent weeks, organisations have scrambled to patch a high-severity Chrome vulnerability already being exploited in the wild, while HTTPBot malware has been actively targeting Windows business networks. Just days ago, Microsoft confirmed a 10/10 critical vulnerability affecting its cloud services.
Add to that the ESXi breach — often described as the backbone of modern virtual infrastructure — and enterprises now face a glaring reminder: even foundational systems are vulnerable.
Pwn2Own: The Legal Hackathon That Saves
Pwn2Own isn’t your average cyber attack scenario. The twice-yearly competition is run by Zero Day Initiative (ZDI)and pits the world’s best ethical hackers against modern software and hardware, all submitted voluntarily by vendors seeking to identify flaws before malicious actors can.
Competitors must demonstrate their hacks within strict rules and time limits, ensuring full transparency and legal compliance. All successful exploits are immediately disclosed to the affected vendors, giving them a crucial head start on developing patches.
Far from encouraging chaos, Pwn2Own is viewed by many in the cybersecurity world as a controlled proving ground for digital resilience.
A Watershed Moment for VMware
While VMware has yet to comment in full, the success of the exploit poses serious implications. ESXi is widely deployed in data centres, cloud environments, and enterprise IT infrastructure across the globe. A working zero-day for this platform, even in ethical hands, highlights the very real risks that could exist in the wild.
Security experts expect a rapid patch release from VMware, though organisations may want to audit their environments for potential exposure and ensure all systems are regularly updated.
Who Is Nguyen Hoang Thach?
The hacker behind the breakthrough, Nguyen Hoang Thach, is no stranger to Pwn2Own glory. Representing Singapore-based STARLabs, one of the most respected teams in ethical hacking, Thach has now added a major first to the group’s trophy cabinet.
The $150,000 cash prize is one of the largest single-event payouts in the competition’s history — a testament to both the complexity of the challenge and the importance of the discovery.
Final Thoughts
The successful breach of VMware ESXi at Pwn2Own Berlin is more than a footnote in hacking history. It’s a timely wake-up call to enterprises relying on virtualisation technologies without sufficient layers of security and proactive testing.
With cybersecurity threats growing more sophisticated, events like Pwn2Own don’t just reward hacking brilliance — they offer a crucial glimpse into the vulnerabilities lurking beneath the surface of our most trusted systems.
And in the world of IT security, forewarned is forearmed.
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