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CVE-2021-2287

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 but can impact data confidentiality across the virtualization environment.

💻 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 local access to the host system where VirtualBox is installed.

📦 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, disk images, and sensitive host information.

🟠

Likely Case

Unauthorized access to VirtualBox configuration files, virtual machine metadata, and potentially sensitive data stored within VirtualBox-managed resources.

🟢

If Mitigated

Limited impact with proper access controls and network segmentation, though local attackers could still access VirtualBox-specific data.

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

🎯 Exploit Status

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

CVSS indicates easily exploitable by unauthenticated attackers with local access. No public exploit code identified in references.

🛠️ 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 website. 2. Stop all running virtual machines. 3. Uninstall current VirtualBox version. 4. Install the patched version. 5. Restart the host system.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Restrict Local Access

all

Limit physical and remote access to systems running VirtualBox to trusted users only.

Network Segmentation

all

Isolate VirtualBox hosts on separate network segments to limit lateral movement.

🧯 If You Can't Patch

  • Implement strict access controls to limit who can log into VirtualBox host systems
  • Monitor VirtualBox host systems for unusual local access patterns or file access attempts

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check VirtualBox version: On Windows: Open VirtualBox GUI and check Help > About. On Linux/macOS: Run 'VBoxManage --version' in terminal.

Check Version:

VBoxManage --version (Linux/macOS) or check Help > About in GUI (Windows)

Verify Fix Applied:

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

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

  • Unusual access to VirtualBox configuration files
  • Failed authentication attempts to VirtualBox services
  • Unexpected process execution related to VirtualBox

Network Indicators:

  • Unusual local network traffic from VirtualBox hosts
  • Attempts to access VirtualBox management interfaces from unauthorized systems

SIEM Query:

source="VirtualBox" AND (event_type="file_access" OR event_type="authentication_failure")

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2021-2287
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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