CVE-2018-2836 in VM VirtualBox
Summary
by MITRE
Vulnerability in the Oracle VM VirtualBox component of Oracle Virtualization (subcomponent: Core). Supported versions that are affected are Prior to 5.1.36 and Prior to 5.2.10. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows low privileged attacker with logon to the infrastructure where Oracle VM VirtualBox executes to compromise Oracle VM VirtualBox. Successful attacks require human interaction from a person other than the attacker and while the vulnerability is in Oracle VM VirtualBox, attacks may significantly impact additional products. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in takeover of Oracle VM VirtualBox. CVSS 3.0 Base Score 8.2 (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/03/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-2836 resides within Oracle VM VirtualBox's Core subcomponent, representing a critical security flaw that undermines the integrity and availability of virtualization environments. This vulnerability affects specific versions of Oracle VM VirtualBox prior to 5.1.36 and 5.2.10, creating a significant risk for organizations relying on virtualized infrastructure. The flaw manifests as an easily exploitable condition that can be leveraged by attackers with low-privilege access to the underlying physical infrastructure where VirtualBox operates. The CVSS 3.0 scoring of 8.2 reflects the high severity impact across confidentiality, integrity, and availability domains, indicating that successful exploitation could lead to complete system compromise.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and memory handling within the VirtualBox Core component, which allows for arbitrary code execution when specific conditions are met. Attackers can exploit this weakness by crafting malicious input that triggers buffer overflows or memory corruption within the VirtualBox execution environment. The requirement for human interaction from a person other than the attacker suggests that the exploitation may involve social engineering elements or require specific user actions to initiate the attack vector. This dependency on human interaction does not diminish the severity but rather indicates the complexity of the attack chain required for successful exploitation. The vulnerability's classification under CWE categories related to buffer overflows and memory corruption aligns with common attack patterns that have been extensively documented in cybersecurity literature.
From an operational impact perspective, successful exploitation of CVE-2018-2836 can result in complete takeover of the Oracle VM VirtualBox environment, enabling attackers to gain full control over virtual machines and potentially escalate privileges to the host system level. This compromise can lead to data exfiltration, system integrity violations, and service disruption across all virtualized environments managed by the vulnerable VirtualBox installation. The security implications extend beyond the immediate VirtualBox component as the attack may significantly impact additional products within the virtualization ecosystem, potentially affecting network infrastructure, storage systems, and other dependent services. Organizations utilizing VirtualBox for development, testing, or production environments face substantial risk of unauthorized access and potential data breaches that could compromise sensitive corporate information and intellectual property.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should prioritize immediate patching of affected VirtualBox installations to versions 5.1.36 or 5.2.10, which contain the necessary security fixes to address the memory handling flaws. Network segmentation and access control measures should be implemented to limit physical access to systems running VirtualBox, reducing the attack surface for potential exploitation. Security monitoring should be enhanced to detect anomalous behavior patterns that might indicate attempted exploitation of this vulnerability. Regular vulnerability assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify additional weaknesses in virtualization environments. The implementation of principle of least privilege access controls and regular security audits will help minimize the potential impact of successful attacks. Organizations should also consider implementing network-based intrusion detection systems specifically configured to monitor for exploitation attempts targeting VirtualBox vulnerabilities, aligning with recommended practices outlined in the ATT&CK framework for virtualization-based attacks and maintaining compliance with industry standards such as NIST SP 800-53 for information system security controls.