VMware source code leak equivalent of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
VMware has confirmed that a portion the the source code for its ESX hypervisor was compromised, although the code dates back as early as 2003. That said, a fairly significant portion of the company's customers are still using the platform as VMware works to push them towards its newer hypervisor called ESXi.
A hypervisor in the simplest terms is a virtual machine management platform on which several virtual machines can run concurrently. The hypervisor controls the sharing of virtualized hardware resources. ESXi has a far smaller attack surface, which limits the available avenues of attack on a installation.
The code was posted to Pastebin by a LulzSec-related hacker who goes by the handle "Hardcore Charlie" on April 8. The breach was part of a larger effort by the hacker which compromised the servers of the Beijing-based China National Import & Export Corp (CEIEC). The hacker says he was looking for information on the US military's efforts in Afghanistan.
