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CVE-2021-2283

7.1 HIGH

📋 TL;DR

This vulnerability in Oracle VM VirtualBox allows an unauthenticated attacker with local access to the host system to access sensitive data from the VirtualBox application. It affects VirtualBox installations prior to version 6.1.20. The attack requires local access to the infrastructure where VirtualBox runs but can impact additional products through data exposure.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:
  • Oracle VM VirtualBox
Versions: All versions prior to 6.1.20
Operating Systems: All platforms running VirtualBox (Windows, Linux, macOS, Solaris)
Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes
Notes: Affects the Core component of VirtualBox. Requires attacker to have logon access to the host system where VirtualBox executes.

📦 What is this software?

Vm Virtualbox by Oracle

View all CVEs affecting Vm Virtualbox →

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Complete compromise of all VirtualBox-accessible data including virtual machine configurations, snapshots, and potentially sensitive guest system information.

🟠

Likely Case

Unauthorized access to VirtualBox configuration files, virtual machine metadata, and potentially credentials or other sensitive data stored by VirtualBox.

🟢

If Mitigated

Limited impact if proper access controls restrict local user privileges and VirtualBox data is encrypted or stored with appropriate permissions.

🌐 Internet-Facing: LOW - This is a local vulnerability requiring attacker access to the host system where VirtualBox runs.
🏢 Internal Only: HIGH - Internal users with local access to VirtualBox hosts can exploit this vulnerability to access sensitive virtualization data.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No
Weaponized: UNKNOWN
Unauthenticated Exploit: ⚠️ Yes
Complexity: LOW

Oracle describes this as 'easily exploitable' and requires no authentication, but does require local access to the VirtualBox host system.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: 6.1.20 or later

Vendor Advisory: https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2021.html

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Download VirtualBox 6.1.20 or later from Oracle's website. 2. Stop all running virtual machines. 3. Uninstall current VirtualBox version. 4. Install the updated version. 5. Restart the host system if required.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Restrict local user access

all

Limit which users have local access to systems running VirtualBox to reduce attack surface.

Apply strict file permissions

linux

Set restrictive permissions on VirtualBox configuration and data directories.

chmod 700 ~/.VirtualBox
chmod 700 /etc/vbox

🧯 If You Can't Patch

  • Isolate VirtualBox hosts from general user access and restrict to authorized administrators only.
  • Implement monitoring and auditing of access to VirtualBox configuration files and directories.

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check VirtualBox version with: VBoxManage --version or via VirtualBox GUI Help → About

Check Version:

VBoxManage --version

Verify Fix Applied:

Confirm version is 6.1.20 or higher using the same version check commands.

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

  • Unauthorized access attempts to VirtualBox configuration files
  • Unexpected process access to VirtualBox data directories

Network Indicators:

  • Not applicable - this is a local vulnerability

SIEM Query:

Process creation events accessing VirtualBox configuration paths by non-privileged users

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2021-2283
CVSS v3 Score: 7.1 (HIGH)
CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N
Published: April 22, 2021
Last Updated: November 21, 2024

🔗 References

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