Critical networking performance issues on virtual machines with VMware Tools 10.3 installed (4336561)

VMware has acknowledged a software defect in VMware Tools 10.3 which negatively impacts network performance on common virtual machine configurations:

VMware Tools Version 10.3.0 Recall and Workaround Recommendations (57796)

This defect will adversely affect the network performance of any application on an affected virtual host.

To quote from VMware's solution above:

Due to the severity of issues identified in the VMXNET3 driver released with VMware Tools 10.3.0, VMware has recalled this release and it is no longer available for download.

Action is required if you have deployed VMware Tools 10.3.0 and all of the following are true:

• vSphere ESXi 6.5 hosts
• VM Hardware Version 13
• Windows 8/Windows Server 2012 or higher guest OS

If this is the case, then VMware recommends upgrading to VMware Tools 10.3.2 immediately.