CVE-2020-2575 in VM VirtualBox
Summary
by MITRE
Vulnerability in the Oracle VM VirtualBox product of Oracle Virtualization (component: Core). Supported versions that are affected are Prior to 5.2.40, prior to 6.0.20 and prior to 6.1.6. Difficult to exploit vulnerability allows high 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 7.5 (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/04/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2020-2575 represents a critical security flaw within Oracle VM VirtualBox's core component that affects multiple version branches including those prior to 5.2.40, 6.0.20, and 6.1.6. This vulnerability falls under the category of privilege escalation and local attack vector issues, with a CVSS base score of 7.5 indicating high severity. The flaw specifically targets the underlying infrastructure where VirtualBox operates, making it particularly dangerous as it requires only a high-privileged attacker with existing logon access to the host system to exploit the vulnerability. The attack scenario involves an authenticated user who already has access to the system where VirtualBox is running, which significantly reduces the attack surface complexity. This vulnerability operates at a fundamental level within the VirtualBox architecture, making it capable of causing substantial damage to the virtualization environment itself.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient access controls and privilege management within the VirtualBox core components, creating an opportunity for privilege escalation attacks. The flaw allows an attacker who already possesses high-privileged access to the host infrastructure to gain complete control over the VirtualBox instance itself. This represents a serious architectural weakness that violates the principle of least privilege, where the system should not allow a user with elevated privileges to further compromise the virtualization layer. The vulnerability's impact spans across confidentiality, integrity, and availability aspects of the system, as demonstrated by the CVSS vector indicating high impact across all three domains. According to CWE classification, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 (Improper Access Control) and potentially CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write) depending on the specific implementation details of the exploit.
The operational implications of CVE-2020-2575 extend far beyond the immediate compromise of the VirtualBox instance, as it can potentially affect multiple dependent systems and applications within the virtualized environment. When an attacker successfully exploits this vulnerability, they can achieve complete takeover of the virtualization platform, which serves as a central hub for multiple virtual machines and their associated workloads. This compromise creates a persistent threat vector that can be leveraged to access sensitive data stored within virtual machines, modify system configurations, or establish backdoors for continued access. The vulnerability's classification under ATT&CK framework would likely map to techniques such as privilege escalation and persistence mechanisms, as the attacker can maintain control over the compromised virtualization layer. The impact on availability is particularly concerning as a compromised VirtualBox instance could lead to complete service disruption for all virtual machines hosted on that system.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2020-2575 must focus on immediate patching of affected VirtualBox versions to the latest releases that contain the necessary security fixes. Organizations should prioritize updating their VirtualBox installations to versions 5.2.40, 6.0.20, or 6.1.6 and beyond, depending on their current deployment. Additionally, implementing network segmentation and access control measures can help limit the potential impact of such vulnerabilities by reducing the attack surface for local privilege escalation. System administrators should also consider implementing additional monitoring and logging mechanisms specifically focused on VirtualBox processes and access patterns to detect potential exploitation attempts. The vulnerability highlights the importance of maintaining current security patches across all virtualization infrastructure components, as the attack requires only existing host access to achieve virtualization platform compromise. Organizations should also review their access control policies and ensure that only necessary personnel have high-privileged access to systems running VirtualBox, thereby reducing the likelihood of exploitation. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning of virtualization environments are essential practices to identify and remediate similar issues before they can be exploited by malicious actors.