CVE-2018-3288 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 5.2.20. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows unauthenticated 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 8.6 (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/29/2023
The vulnerability described in CVE-2018-3288 represents a critical security flaw within Oracle VM VirtualBox's Core subcomponent that affects versions prior to 5.2.20. This vulnerability falls under the Common Weakness Enumeration category CWE-284 which specifically addresses improper access control mechanisms, making it particularly dangerous in virtualized environments where multiple users and processes interact. The vulnerability's classification as easily exploitable indicates that attackers can leverage it with minimal effort once they have gained access to the underlying infrastructure hosting the virtualization software. The CVSS 3.0 score of 8.6 reflects the high severity of this flaw, with impacts spanning confidentiality, integrity, and availability, suggesting that successful exploitation could lead to complete system compromise.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from insufficient access controls within Oracle VM VirtualBox's core functionality, allowing an unauthenticated attacker who already has logon access to the host infrastructure to compromise the virtualization environment. This means that even if the attacker doesn't have direct administrative privileges, they can still exploit this weakness to gain control over the virtual machines running on the system. The requirement for human interaction from someone other than the attacker suggests that social engineering or user-based attacks may be necessary to initially gain access to the system before exploiting this vulnerability, which aligns with the CVSS vector indicating that the attacker must have local access (AV:L) and that additional products may be impacted. The vulnerability's potential to cause a complete takeover of Oracle VM VirtualBox demonstrates its severe impact on system integrity and availability.
The operational impact of CVE-2018-3288 extends far beyond the immediate virtualization environment, as the compromise of Oracle VM VirtualBox can lead to broader security breaches across the entire infrastructure. This vulnerability affects not just the virtualization platform itself but can also impact additional products and systems that rely on or interact with the compromised virtual environment, creating cascading security risks throughout the network. The high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts mean that attackers could potentially access sensitive data, modify virtual machine configurations, or cause complete system outages, making this vulnerability particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where virtualization is extensively used. Organizations using affected versions of Oracle VM VirtualBox face significant risks including data breaches, service interruptions, and potential compliance violations.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on immediate patching of Oracle VM VirtualBox to version 5.2.20 or later, which contains the necessary security fixes to address the access control flaws. Organizations should also implement additional security measures such as network segmentation, access control hardening, and monitoring for suspicious activities within virtualization environments. The vulnerability's classification under ATT&CK framework would likely map to techniques involving privilege escalation and persistence within virtualized environments, making it essential for security teams to monitor for unusual virtual machine activities and potential unauthorized access attempts. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to ensure that all virtualization components remain up to date with the latest security patches and that proper access controls are maintained across all virtualized infrastructure.