CVE-2014-2487 in VM VirtualBox
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in the Oracle VM VirtualBox component in Oracle Virtualization VirtualBox before 3.2.24, 4.0.26, 4.1.34, 4.2.26, and 4.3.14, when running on Windows, allows local users to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability via unknown vectors related to Core, a different vulnerability than CVE-2014-4261.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/09/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-2487 represents a significant security flaw within Oracle VM VirtualBox virtualization software that affected multiple versions across different release streams. This vulnerability specifically impacted VirtualBox installations running on Windows operating systems and was classified as an unspecified weakness within the Core component of the virtualization platform. The issue manifested as a local privilege escalation vulnerability that could potentially compromise the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of systems running vulnerable VirtualBox versions. Unlike other related vulnerabilities such as CVE-2014-4261, this flaw operated through distinct attack vectors that targeted the underlying Core functionality of the virtualization software.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from insufficient security controls within the VirtualBox Core component that manages the fundamental operations of the virtual machine environment. When a local attacker successfully exploited this weakness, they could potentially gain elevated privileges within the virtualized environment, allowing them to manipulate virtual machine configurations, access sensitive data stored within virtual machines, or disrupt the normal operation of the virtualization platform. The vulnerability's impact extended beyond simple privilege escalation as it could affect the entire virtualization infrastructure, potentially allowing attackers to compromise multiple virtual machines running on the same host system. This type of vulnerability falls under the CWE-264 category of Permissions, Privileges, and Access Controls, specifically addressing weaknesses in the implementation of access control mechanisms within virtualization software.
The operational impact of CVE-2014-2487 was substantial for organizations relying on VirtualBox for their virtualization needs, particularly those running Windows hosts. Local attackers with minimal privileges could potentially leverage this vulnerability to escalate their access level, creating a pathway for data exfiltration, system modification, or service disruption. The vulnerability's presence in multiple version streams including 3.2.x, 4.0.x, 4.1.x, 4.2.x, and 4.3.x meant that a broad range of installations could be affected, complicating remediation efforts for system administrators. Organizations using VirtualBox for development, testing, or production environments faced significant risk as this vulnerability could be exploited to gain unauthorized access to virtualized applications and data. The availability impact was particularly concerning as successful exploitation could lead to virtual machine crashes or complete system instability, potentially affecting business continuity operations.
From a threat modeling perspective, this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1068 which covers "Exploitation for Privilege Escalation" and T1499 which addresses "Endpoint Denial of Service". The attack surface was particularly broad given that VirtualBox was widely deployed across enterprise environments, making this vulnerability attractive to threat actors seeking to establish persistent access within virtualized infrastructures. Organizations typically mitigated this vulnerability by upgrading to patched versions of VirtualBox, specifically versions 3.2.24, 4.0.26, 4.1.34, 4.2.26, and 4.3.14 which contained the necessary security fixes. System administrators also implemented additional monitoring and access controls to detect potential exploitation attempts, while security teams conducted vulnerability assessments to identify all affected systems within their networks. The vulnerability highlighted the critical importance of keeping virtualization software up to date and demonstrated how flaws in core virtualization components could have cascading effects throughout enterprise IT environments.