CVE-2017-10241 in VM VirtualBox
Summary
by MITRE
Vulnerability in the Oracle VM VirtualBox component of Oracle Virtualization (subcomponent: Core). The supported version that is affected is Prior to 5.1.24. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows high privileged attacker with logon to the infrastructure where Oracle VM VirtualBox executes to compromise Oracle VM VirtualBox. While the vulnerability is in Oracle VM VirtualBox, attacks may significantly impact additional products. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized ability to cause a hang or frequently repeatable crash (complete DOS) of Oracle VM VirtualBox as well as unauthorized update, insert or delete access to some of Oracle VM VirtualBox accessible data and unauthorized read access to a subset of Oracle VM VirtualBox accessible data. CVSS 3.0 Base Score 7.3 (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:H).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/03/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-10241 resides within Oracle VM VirtualBox's Core subcomponent, representing a critical security flaw that affects versions prior to 5.1.24. This issue manifests as a privilege escalation vulnerability that enables attackers with legitimate access to the underlying infrastructure hosting VirtualBox to compromise the virtualization platform itself. The vulnerability's classification as easily exploitable indicates that the attack vector requires minimal technical sophistication, making it particularly dangerous in environments where administrative credentials might be compromised or where insiders possess legitimate access rights. The CVSS 3.0 score of 7.3 reflects the severity of impact across confidentiality, integrity, and availability domains, with the high privilege requirement (PR:H) suggesting that the attacker must already possess system-level access to the host environment.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from improper input validation or memory handling within VirtualBox's core components, which allows an authenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges. When an attacker successfully exploits this weakness, they can achieve complete denial of service conditions that result in system hangs or repeated crashes, effectively rendering the virtualization environment unusable. Additionally, the exploitation enables unauthorized modification of data within the VirtualBox environment, including the ability to insert, update, or delete information within accessible data stores. The vulnerability also permits unauthorized read access to sensitive data subsets within the virtualization platform, potentially exposing configuration details, virtual machine settings, or other confidential information that could be leveraged for further attacks.
The operational impact of CVE-2017-10241 extends beyond the immediate VirtualBox environment, as attacks may significantly affect additional Oracle products that depend on or interact with the compromised virtualization platform. This cascading effect demonstrates how vulnerabilities in core infrastructure components can create broader security implications across enterprise environments where virtualization serves as a foundational technology. Organizations utilizing VirtualBox for development, testing, or production workloads face substantial risk from this vulnerability, particularly in scenarios where privileged credentials are compromised or where insufficient access controls exist to limit administrative privileges. The complete denial of service capability represents a critical availability threat that could disrupt business operations, while the data integrity and confidentiality impacts could lead to information disclosure or unauthorized system modifications.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate patching of VirtualBox installations to version 5.1.24 or later, which addresses the underlying flaw in the Core component. System administrators should implement comprehensive access controls and privilege management policies to minimize the attack surface, ensuring that only authorized personnel have administrative access to host systems. Network segmentation and monitoring solutions should be deployed to detect suspicious activities that might indicate exploitation attempts, particularly around authentication events and system resource utilization patterns. Organizations should also conduct thorough vulnerability assessments to identify all instances of affected VirtualBox versions within their infrastructure and implement continuous monitoring for similar vulnerabilities in virtualization platforms. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation) and may map to ATT&CK techniques involving privilege escalation and denial of service operations, emphasizing the need for layered defensive measures that address both the specific vulnerability and broader security posture considerations.