Ransomware targeting VMware ESXi servers takes advantage of an old vulnerability and has affected more than 3,000 systems worldwide.

"It’s DDoS protection for any box, container or VM that connects to the internet," the company announced on Thurday. "Whether it runs email, file transfer or a…

The "easily exploitable" vulnerabilities allow a hacker to stage a "virtual machine escape" to attack the host operating system.

The company has publicly pushed patches to close vulnerabilities that can lead to remote root access.