SMP Virtual Machine, Windows Guest OS, Java or multimedia real-time software
RPMs Updated
VMware-esx-vmx
Related CVE numbers
N/A
Summary
This patch fixes the following:
Fixes a time gain issue for various Windows guest operating systems. Windows operating systems use multimedia timers that repeatedly switch the frequency of the CMOS periodic timer. This switch in frequency interferes with correct time keeping in the virtual machine, resulting in potential time gain.
Solution
Symptoms
The following symptom might be seen in systems without this patch:
Windows multimedia timers are a service provided by Windows operating system to applications that provide high resolution callbacks for applications. Enabling, disabling, or changing the rate of callbacks can cause Windows to change the rate of interrupts requested from the hardware timer. The act of changing the rate of the hardware timer can cause small amounts of time to be gained. If the rate is changed frequently, an appreciable amount of time might be gained in the virtual machine. Java applications commonly change the multimedia timer rate and might trigger the time gain issue. This issue has also been observed with the use of WebLogic.
Deployment Considerations
Installing this patch might affect SMP virtual machine, Windows guest operating system, Java or multimedia real-time software.
2.Log in to the ESX Server service console as root.
3.Create a local depot directory.
# mkdir -p /var/updates
Note: VMware recommends that you use the updates directory.
4.Change your working directory to /var/updates.
# cd /var/updates
5.Download the tar file into the /var/updates directory.
6.Verify the integrity of the downloaded tar file:
# md5sum ESX-1002087.tgz
The md5 checksum output should match the following:
5a5d1185a283150ed7485d1fd90e1b02 ESX-1002087.tgz
7.Extract the compressed tar archive:
# tar -xvzf ESX-1002087.tgz
8.Change to the newly created directory, /var/updates/ESX-1002087:
# cd ESX-1002087
Installation Instructions
Note: All virtual machines on the host must be either shut down or migrated using VMotion before applying the patch.
After you download and extract the archive, and if you are in the directory that you previously created, use the following command to install the update:
# esxupdate update
To run esxupdate from a different directory, you must specify the bundle path in the command:
