It's not only related to vmware-player, it also appears with vmware-server and vmware workstation. For vmware Workstation it's still here even in the latest beta version. Commenting the lines in the source code of madwifi and recompiling it fix the issue.
** Also affects: linux-restricted-modules-2.6.20 (Ubuntu) Importance: Undecided Status: Unconfirmed ** Summary changed: - vmware-player won't work with madwifi-ng drivers + [feisty] VMWare bridged networking doesn't work with madiwifi-ng ** Tags added: feisty kernel madwifi vmware -- [feisty] VMWare bridged networking doesn't work with madiwifi-ng https://launchpad.net/bugs/59474 -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs