CVE-2019-2523 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 5.2.24 and prior to 6.0.2. Difficult to exploit vulnerability allows low 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 takeover of Oracle VM VirtualBox. CVSS 3.0 Base Score 7.8 (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/28/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-2523 resides within Oracle VM VirtualBox's Core subcomponent, representing a critical security flaw that affects organizations utilizing virtualization technology. This vulnerability impacts Oracle VM VirtualBox versions prior to 5.2.24 and 6.0.2, creating a significant risk for enterprises that depend on virtualized environments for their operational infrastructure. The vulnerability's classification as difficult to exploit indicates that while it requires specific conditions and privileges, the potential for successful compromise remains substantial given the right circumstances. The attack vector requires a low privileged attacker who already possesses logon access to the infrastructure where Oracle VM VirtualBox operates, making this vulnerability particularly concerning for organizations with compromised internal systems or insider threats.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and memory handling within the VirtualBox Core component, which can be manipulated by an attacker with existing access to the host system. This flaw allows for potential code execution within the virtualization environment, enabling an attacker to escalate privileges and gain full control over the VirtualBox instance. The CVSS 3.0 score of 7.8 reflects the severity of impact across confidentiality, integrity, and availability domains, with the vector AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H indicating local access requirements, high attack complexity, low privileges needed, no user interaction required, and catastrophic scope with high impacts across all security properties. The vulnerability's classification aligns with CWE-121, which addresses stack-based buffer overflow conditions, and potentially CWE-122 for heap-based buffer overflow scenarios that may occur during memory management within the virtualization core.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond the immediate compromise of Oracle VM VirtualBox, as successful exploitation can lead to significant cascading effects throughout an organization's virtualized infrastructure. Attackers who successfully exploit this vulnerability can potentially gain control over virtual machines running on the compromised host, creating a potential pathway for lateral movement within the network. This scenario particularly concerns organizations that rely heavily on virtualization for their computing infrastructure, as the compromise of a single host system could result in widespread disruption of services and potential data breaches across multiple virtual environments. The vulnerability's ability to affect additional products demonstrates the interconnected nature of modern virtualization ecosystems where a single point of failure can propagate through complex dependency chains.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigation strategies including the deployment of patches and updates to Oracle VM VirtualBox versions 5.2.24 or 6.0.2, which contain fixes for the identified vulnerability. System administrators should also consider implementing additional security controls such as network segmentation, privilege escalation monitoring, and regular vulnerability assessments to identify potential exploitation attempts. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this vulnerability under T1059 for command and scripting interpreter and potentially T1068 for exploit for privilege escalation, making it important for security teams to monitor for these attack patterns. Additionally, organizations should conduct thorough security audits of their virtualization environments, implement strict access controls, and establish robust monitoring protocols to detect anomalous behavior that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability's characteristics suggest that organizations should also consider implementing zero trust principles within their virtualized environments to minimize the potential impact of such compromises and reduce the attack surface for similar vulnerabilities.