CVE-2019-2527 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 5.2.26 and prior to 6.0.4. Easily exploitable 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 unauthorized ability to cause a hang or frequently repeatable crash (complete DOS) of Oracle VM VirtualBox. CVSS 3.0 Base Score 6.5 (Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/28/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-2527 resides within Oracle VM VirtualBox's Core subcomponent, representing a critical availability risk that affects specific versions of the virtualization platform. This flaw manifests as a buffer overflow condition that occurs during the processing of certain input data within the virtualization environment, creating a pathway for malicious actors to disrupt normal system operations. The vulnerability's classification as easily exploitable indicates that attackers with minimal privileges and local access to the host system can leverage this weakness to compromise the virtualization infrastructure. The attack vector requires local access to the system where Oracle VM VirtualBox operates, meaning that the threat actor must already possess some level of system login credentials or physical access to the host environment.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation within the Core component of VirtualBox, which fails to properly handle malformed data structures during virtual machine processing operations. This buffer overflow condition can be triggered through crafted input sequences that cause the application to write beyond allocated memory boundaries, leading to unpredictable behavior including application crashes and system instability. The vulnerability's impact extends beyond the immediate VirtualBox environment as noted in the CVSS scoring, indicating that successful exploitation can affect other Oracle products that rely on or interact with the compromised virtualization infrastructure. The CVSS 3.0 base score of 6.5 reflects the availability impact category with a high severity rating for the complete denial of service condition that can be achieved through this flaw.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents a significant risk to organizations that depend on Oracle VM VirtualBox for their virtualization needs, particularly in environments where local system access might be compromised or where insider threats exist. The low privilege requirement for exploitation means that even users with minimal system permissions can potentially cause system-wide disruptions, making this vulnerability particularly dangerous in shared or multi-tenant hosting environments. The complete denial of service condition can result in extended downtime for virtualized applications and services, potentially causing cascading failures throughout dependent systems that rely on the virtualized infrastructure. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-121, which describes buffer overflow conditions in stack-based memory allocation, and demonstrates how such fundamental flaws can compromise entire virtualization platforms. The security implications extend to potential chain reactions where compromised virtualization infrastructure can affect multiple guest operating systems and applications running within the virtual environment.
Organizations should immediately implement mitigation strategies including applying the vendor-provided patches for Oracle VM VirtualBox versions prior to 5.2.26 and 6.0.4, as these releases contain the necessary fixes to address the buffer overflow condition. System administrators should also consider implementing additional monitoring and access controls to detect potential exploitation attempts, particularly focusing on unusual patterns of system resource consumption or unexpected application crashes. Network segmentation and privilege minimization strategies can help reduce the attack surface by limiting local access to virtualization hosts. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this vulnerability under the T1499 technique for network denial of service, while the exploitation methods align with T1059 for command and scripting interpreter usage. Regular vulnerability assessments should be conducted to identify other potential weaknesses in the virtualization infrastructure and ensure comprehensive security posture maintenance. Organizations may also need to consider alternative virtualization solutions or additional security controls if immediate patching is not feasible, given the availability impact severity of this vulnerability.