CVE-2016-0090 in Windows
Summary
by MITRE
Hyper-V in Microsoft Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2, and Windows 10 allows guest OS users to obtain sensitive information from host OS memory via a crafted application, aka "Hyper-V Information Disclosure Vulnerability."
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/13/2022
The Hyper-V Information Disclosure Vulnerability represents a critical security flaw in Microsoft's virtualization platform that affects multiple Windows operating systems including Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2, and Windows 10. This vulnerability resides within the Hyper-V hypervisor component responsible for managing virtual machine operations and provides unauthorized access to host system memory from within guest operating systems. The flaw enables malicious actors to extract sensitive data that should remain isolated between virtual environments, fundamentally compromising the security isolation that virtualization technologies are designed to provide.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from improper memory management and access control mechanisms within the Hyper-V hypervisor. When a guest operating system executes a specially crafted application, it can leverage specific memory access patterns to read data from the host system's memory space. This occurs due to insufficient validation of memory access requests and inadequate boundary checking between virtualized environments. The vulnerability specifically exploits the way Hyper-V handles memory mapping and virtual address translation, allowing guest users to bypass normal security boundaries and access memory regions that contain sensitive information such as cryptographic keys, credentials, or other confidential data stored in the host system's memory.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information disclosure, as it represents a fundamental breach of virtualization security principles. Attackers can potentially extract sensitive data including but not limited to user credentials, encryption keys, application data, and system configuration information from the host operating system. This type of cross-contamination between virtual environments undermines the core security model of virtualization, where isolation between guest and host systems is essential for maintaining security boundaries. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it requires minimal privileges to exploit, as guest users can trigger the condition through normal application execution without requiring administrative access to the host system.
This vulnerability maps directly to CWE-200, which addresses "Information Exposure," and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.001 for command and scripting interpreter, as attackers can leverage the information disclosure to gain further access to systems. The attack vector typically involves a malicious application running within a guest operating system that triggers memory access violations in the hypervisor, allowing extraction of host memory contents. Security professionals should note that this vulnerability represents a privilege escalation path that can lead to more severe compromise scenarios. The impact is amplified by the fact that many enterprise environments rely heavily on virtualization technologies, making this a widespread concern across organizations that utilize Hyper-V for their virtualization needs. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying Microsoft security patches, monitoring for suspicious memory access patterns, and reviewing virtualization security configurations to prevent exploitation of this vulnerability.