CVE-2018-3293 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 identified as CVE-2018-3293 represents a critical security flaw within Oracle VM VirtualBox's Core subcomponent affecting versions prior to 5.2.20. This vulnerability operates within the realm of virtualization security and demonstrates how flaws in hypervisor implementations can create substantial attack surfaces. The issue resides in the Oracle VM VirtualBox virtualization platform that serves as a cornerstone for enterprise virtualization environments, making its compromise particularly concerning for organizations relying on virtualized infrastructure. The vulnerability's classification as easily exploitable indicates that attackers can leverage relatively straightforward methods to achieve their objectives, reducing the barrier to successful exploitation.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and potentially improper access controls within the VirtualBox Core component. Attackers can leverage this flaw to gain unauthorized access to the virtualization environment, potentially leading to complete system compromise. The vulnerability requires an attacker to have logon access to the infrastructure where VirtualBox operates, which means that the attack vector involves local system access rather than remote exploitation. However, the requirement for human interaction suggests that social engineering or privilege escalation techniques may be necessary to achieve initial access. The CVSS 3.0 score of 8.6 reflects the high severity impact across confidentiality, integrity, and availability domains, indicating that successful exploitation could result in complete system takeover.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents significant risks to enterprise environments that depend on VirtualBox for their virtualization needs. The impact extends beyond just the VirtualBox application itself, potentially affecting additional products and systems within the organization's infrastructure. The compromise of a virtualization platform creates cascading security implications, as virtual machines running on the compromised host may also become vulnerable to further exploitation. Organizations utilizing VirtualBox for development, testing, or production environments face substantial risk of data breaches, service disruption, and potential lateral movement within their networks. The vulnerability's ability to impact additional products aligns with the ATT&CK framework's concept of privilege escalation and lateral movement, where initial access to a system can be leveraged to compromise additional targets.
The exploitation of this vulnerability can result in complete takeover of the Oracle VM VirtualBox environment, allowing attackers to execute arbitrary code, access sensitive data, and potentially manipulate virtual machine configurations. This type of vulnerability is particularly dangerous in enterprise settings where virtualization platforms host critical business applications and sensitive data. The availability impact suggests that attackers could potentially disrupt services by corrupting or destroying virtual machine configurations, while the confidentiality impact indicates that sensitive data stored within virtual environments could be accessed or exfiltrated. The integrity impact reflects the potential for attackers to modify virtual machine settings, create backdoors, or manipulate the underlying virtualization infrastructure.
Organizations should immediately implement mitigation strategies including updating to Oracle VM VirtualBox version 5.2.20 or later, which contains the necessary patches to address this vulnerability. Network segmentation and access control measures should be strengthened to limit logon access to virtualization infrastructure, reducing the attack surface available to potential adversaries. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to identify any remaining exposures within virtualization environments. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of maintaining up-to-date virtualization platforms and implementing comprehensive security monitoring to detect potential exploitation attempts. Compliance with industry standards such as those outlined in the Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) catalog should be maintained, particularly regarding input validation and access control mechanisms. Organizations should also consider implementing additional security controls such as privileged access management, regular security audits, and incident response procedures specifically tailored to virtualization environments. The vulnerability underscores the critical need for layered security approaches in virtualized environments where a single compromised component can potentially lead to widespread system compromise.