VMware Workstation Player 17.5 | 19 OCT 2023 | Build 22583795

Check for additions and updates to these release notes.

What's in the Release Notes

The release notes cover the following topics:

About VMware Workstation Player

VMware Workstation Player™ is a streamlined desktop virtualization application that runs another operating system on the same computer without rebooting. VMware Workstation Player provides a simple user interface, unmatched operating system support, and portability across the VMware ecosystem.

For more information, see the broader VMware Workstation Player documentation.

System Requirements

  • A compatible 64-bit x86/AMD64 CPU launched in 2011 or later.

  • Please refer to the vendor's recommended processor requirements for specific Host Operating Systems (HOS):

    • For Microsoft-specific HOS, refer to the Microsoft documentation

    • For Linux-specific HOS, refer to the Linux Vendor-specific documentation

What's New

  • New Security Enhancement

    This release introduces new security enhancement by providing an improved encryption scheme (XTS instead of CBC) for maximum protection with a reduced performance overhead. Please see https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/93071 for more information.

  • This release resolves CVE-2023-34044. For more information on these vulnerabilities and their impact on VMware products, see VMSA-2023-0022.

  • Control Virtual Machines using the VMRUN Commands

    You can now control virtual machines using the VMRUN command line utility in Workstation Player. You can use commands to perform various guest operations such as power on or off, capture snapshots for data backup, manage network adapters, run an executable program, manage files and directories, manage processes running on the operating system, and so on.

  • Import and Export Virtual Machines with vTPM device

    You can now import or export a virtual machine with a vTPM device enabled using the OVF Tool. You can export a virtual machine with vTPM device into an OVF file, and then use the OVF file to import the virtual machine with a vTPM.

  • Manage Power Operations of Encrypted Virtual Machines using VMREST API

    You can now power on/off, suspend, pause, unpause, or retrieve the state of an encrypted virtual machine using the VMREST API service.

  • VMware Hardware Version 21

    • Support for up to 256 NVMe devices: 4 controllers and 64 devices per controller

    • Support for NVMe 1.3 in the following guest operating systems:

      • Microsoft Windows 11

      • Microsoft Windows Server 2022

Product Support Notices

  • The virtual printer feature has reached its end of life and has been removed from VMware Workstation Player. 

Prior Releases

Features and Known Issues from prior releases of VMware Workstation 16 Player are described in the release notes for each release. To view the release notes for a prior release, click the appropriate link:

Resolved Issues

  • The cursor does not appear in the VNC client while remotely controlling a virtual machine

    When you configure a virtual machine as a VNC server, the VNC client does not correctly show the mouse cursor for the virtual machine you control.

    This issue is resolved.

  • Cannot start an encrypted virtual machine using VMRUN

    Unable to start an encrypted virtual machine using VMRUN command without nogui

    This issue is resolved.

  • Wireless bridge connection might not work on a Windows host with DHCP configured

    If you use Workstation 17.0.1 or above on a Windows host with DHCP mode configured, a wireless bridge connection might not work on the host operating system.

    This issue is resolved.

  • Cannot access an encrypted virtual machine with remember password option enabled

    While creating an encrypted virtual machine with Windows guest operating system, if you check the option to remember the password, the virtual machine might prompt you to enter the password again when you try to log in.

    This issue is resolved.

  • Cannot downgrade the hardware compatibility of a virtual machine

    On Workstation Pro 17.0.1 or above, a user cannot downgrade the hardware compatibility version of a Windows 95/98 VM without VMware Tools installed.

    This issue is resolved.

  • Virtual machine shows BSOD when USB is enabled

    When you enable USB in Workstation Pro, the virtual machines fail to start with a BSOD error.

    This issue is resolved.

  • The mouse cursor offsets from the point of event in Visual Studio

    When you use Microsoft Visual Studio on a Windows 10/11 guest operating system, the mouse does not click where the mouse pointer is positioned.

    The issue is resolved.

  • Linux-based guest operating system boots slowly with the default RAM and CPU for a virtual machine

    When you install the following Linux-based guest operating system, the virtual machine might boot slowly or fail to boot:

    • Fedora

    • AlmaLinux

    • Debian

    • SLES15

    • Oracle Linux

    • Photon OS

    This issue is resolved.

  • Unable to decrypt or re-encrypt a virtual machine after changing the disk split value

    After you change the value of a disk split for an encrypted virtual machine, you cannot decrypt or re-encrypt the virtual machine.

    This issue is resolved.

Security Issues

  • Pixman has been updated to 0.42.2

  • LibTIFF has been updated to 4.5.1

  • SQLite3 has been updated to 3.42.0

  • curl has been updated to 8.3

  • OpenSSL has been updated to 3.0.10

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