CVE-2014-2488 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 4.3.12 allows local users to affect confidentiality via unknown vectors related to Core.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/02/2017
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-2488 represents a critical security flaw within Oracle VM VirtualBox's core components that existed across multiple version ranges including 3.2.24, 4.0.26, 4.1.34, 4.2.26, and 4.3.12. This unspecified weakness in the virtualization platform's core architecture creates a potential pathway for local attackers to compromise system confidentiality, making it particularly dangerous in environments where virtual machines handle sensitive data. The vulnerability's classification as a core component issue suggests it affects fundamental VirtualBox operations rather than specific user-facing features, potentially impacting the entire virtualization stack.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from unspecified attack vectors within the VirtualBox core system, which operates as the foundational layer managing virtual machine execution and resource allocation. Local users with access to the host system can exploit this weakness to potentially access confidential information that should remain isolated within virtual machine environments. The core component nature of the flaw indicates that it likely involves memory management, process isolation, or hypervisor-level operations that form the backbone of virtualization security. This type of vulnerability directly undermines the fundamental security model that virtualization platforms rely upon to maintain isolation between different virtual environments.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability creates significant risk for organizations utilizing Oracle VM VirtualBox for development, testing, or production environments where sensitive data may be processed within virtual machines. The local attack vector means that any user with legitimate access to the host system could potentially exploit this weakness to access data from other virtual machines running on the same host. This presents a serious threat to multi-tenant virtualization environments and can lead to data breaches, intellectual property theft, or compliance violations. The impact extends beyond individual systems to potentially compromise entire virtualized infrastructures where multiple virtual machines share the same physical host.
Security professionals should immediately implement mitigation strategies including upgrading to patched versions of Oracle VM VirtualBox as specified in the CVE advisory, implementing strict access controls to prevent unauthorized local access, and monitoring for suspicious activity that might indicate exploitation attempts. Organizations should also consider additional security measures such as network segmentation, enhanced logging, and regular security assessments of their virtualization environments. The vulnerability's classification as a core component issue makes it particularly challenging to remediate without complete system upgrades, emphasizing the importance of maintaining current security patches and conducting regular vulnerability assessments. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-254 weakness categories related to security features and also maps to ATT&CK techniques involving privilege escalation and credential access through local system exploitation methods.