The workaround is to set the Linux user numeric UID and

GID to the same MacOS numeric UID and GID for the user

running the VM. That is, in a MacOS Terminal, run

"id" to get your numeric UID and GID, then in Linux set

the Linux user UID and GID to the same values as MacOS

(use "Users and Groups" in Ubuntu). Afterword you may

need change some file ownerships on your Linux

filesystems, and "find -uid/gid" is good for that.

Personally I see this as a bug. Sure, vmware-vmx is

setuid root, but hgfs really should be able to do some

kind of UID/GID translation to avoid this problem.

Probably it's been allowed to slide because it's not

a problem in Windows.