In case you needed more encouragement to move to ESXi here’s a good reason. The recent Linux vulnerability that was announced that can give attackers root access to a system effects the ESX 4.x Service Console as well as it is based off Red Hat Linux with the 2.6.28 kernel. The vulnerability affects nearly all 64-bit Linux distros but is not present in 32-bit Linux distros. Because of that the ESX 3.x Service Console is not affected by this. Apparently VMware is aware of this and a patch is in the works so be on the lookout for it and patch your systems immediately. If an attacker were to gain root access to your ESX Service Console they could easily gain access to all your VM’s as well. ESXi systems are not affected at all as they do not run a full Linux operating system and instead run a small POSIX based environment that has a smaller attack surface.
