CVE-2019-2877 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 5.2.32 and prior to 6.0.10. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows low privileged attacker with logon to the infrastructure where Oracle VM VirtualBox executes to compromise Oracle VM VirtualBox. Successful attacks 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 5.5 (Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/07/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-2877 resides within Oracle VM VirtualBox's Core subcomponent, representing a critical availability risk that affects versions prior to 5.2.32 and 6.0.10. This flaw operates at the infrastructure level where VirtualBox executes, making it particularly dangerous as it requires only low-privilege access to the host system to exploit. The vulnerability's classification as easily exploitable indicates that attackers with minimal privileges can leverage this weakness to compromise the virtualization environment, creating a significant security risk for organizations relying on virtualized infrastructure.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from improper handling of certain input validation mechanisms within the VirtualBox Core component, which can lead to memory corruption or resource exhaustion conditions. When exploited, this flaw manifests as a denial of service condition that can cause the virtualization platform to hang or repeatedly crash, effectively rendering the virtual environment unusable. The CVSS 3.0 score of 5.5 reflects the moderate severity of the availability impact, though the complete system disruption capability makes this a serious concern for enterprise environments where virtualization platforms serve as foundational infrastructure components. The attack vector requires local access to the host system, meaning an attacker must already have some level of access to the physical or virtual machine where VirtualBox operates, but this access level is considered low-privileged.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption, as it can compromise the entire virtualization infrastructure and potentially affect multiple virtual machines running on the same host. Organizations using VirtualBox for development, testing, or production environments face significant risk of service interruptions that could impact business operations and productivity. The vulnerability's potential for causing complete system hangs or frequent crashes means that even brief exploitation periods could result in substantial downtime, particularly in environments where virtual machines are critical to business processes. This type of availability-focused attack aligns with the ATT&CK technique T1499.001 (Network Denial of Service) and represents a specific implementation of the broader concept of availability attacks that target infrastructure components.
Security mitigations for CVE-2019-2877 primarily involve upgrading to the patched versions of Oracle VM VirtualBox, specifically versions 5.2.32 or 6.0.10 and later. Organizations should also implement strict access controls and privilege management to limit local system access, as the vulnerability requires local access to exploit. Network segmentation and monitoring should be enhanced to detect unusual patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts, particularly around system resource consumption and process behavior. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of maintaining current security patches for virtualization platforms and highlights the risks associated with running outdated software versions in enterprise environments. This case study reinforces the principles outlined in CWE-122 (Heap Overflow) and CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read) categories, showing how improper memory management can lead to availability impacts in virtualization environments. Organizations should also consider implementing automated patch management systems to ensure timely deployment of security updates and reduce the window of exposure for such vulnerabilities.