CVE-2020-2758 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. Easily exploitable 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 8.2 (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/26/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2020-2758 represents a critical security flaw within Oracle VM VirtualBox's core component that affects multiple version lines including pre-5.2.40, pre-6.0.20, and pre-6.1.6 releases. This vulnerability operates under the CVSS 3.0 scoring system with a base score of 8.2, indicating a high severity threat that can compromise the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected system. The vulnerability's classification as easily exploitable suggests that attackers with high-privileged access to the underlying infrastructure where VirtualBox operates can leverage this flaw to gain complete control over the virtualization environment. The attack vector is classified as local access (AV:L) requiring low complexity (AC:L) but demanding high privileges (PR:H) which indicates that the vulnerability is particularly dangerous when an attacker already has elevated access rights within the system's operational environment. The security implications extend beyond just VirtualBox itself as attacks can significantly impact additional products within the virtualized infrastructure, creating cascading security risks throughout the entire virtual environment.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from the core architectural components of Oracle VM VirtualBox, specifically targeting the underlying mechanisms that govern virtual machine execution and resource management. This flaw allows for privilege escalation and potential complete system compromise when exploited by an attacker who has already established a foothold within the system's infrastructure. The vulnerability's impact is particularly severe given that VirtualBox serves as a foundational component in many virtualized environments, making it a prime target for attackers seeking to establish persistent access to critical systems. The CVSS vector analysis reveals that the vulnerability can cause high impacts across all three core security principles - confidentiality, integrity, and availability - suggesting that successful exploitation could result in data breaches, system corruption, and complete service disruption. This vulnerability directly aligns with CWE-269, which addresses privilege escalation issues, and represents a significant concern for organizations relying on virtualization technologies for their computing infrastructure.
The operational impact of CVE-2020-2758 extends far beyond the immediate compromise of individual virtual machines, as it can provide attackers with a foothold that allows them to manipulate the entire virtualization layer. Organizations using affected VirtualBox versions face the risk of complete system takeover, which could result in unauthorized access to sensitive data, disruption of business operations, and potential compliance violations. The vulnerability's ability to impact additional products within the virtualized environment means that a single point of compromise can lead to widespread security incidents across multiple systems and applications. This characteristic makes the vulnerability particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where virtualization is extensively used for server consolidation and application deployment. The attack scenario typically involves an attacker with existing access to the host system leveraging this privilege escalation vulnerability to gain full administrative control over the VirtualBox environment. Such an attack could enable unauthorized users to manipulate virtual machine configurations, extract sensitive information from running systems, or establish persistent backdoors within the virtualized infrastructure. The security implications are further amplified by the fact that VirtualBox is widely deployed across various industries including financial services, healthcare, and government sectors where such compromises could result in significant financial and reputational damage.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2020-2758 require immediate implementation of patch management procedures to upgrade to supported versions of Oracle VM VirtualBox that have addressed this vulnerability. Organizations should implement comprehensive vulnerability assessment programs to identify all instances of affected VirtualBox versions within their infrastructure and prioritize remediation efforts accordingly. Network segmentation and access control measures should be enhanced to limit the potential impact of any successful exploitation attempts, particularly by reducing the attack surface available to privileged users. The implementation of monitoring solutions specifically designed to detect anomalous behavior within virtualized environments can help identify potential exploitation attempts. Additionally, organizations should conduct regular security audits of their virtualization infrastructure to ensure that proper access controls are maintained and that only authorized personnel have elevated privileges. The vulnerability's classification as a privilege escalation issue necessitates strict adherence to the principle of least privilege, ensuring that users and processes have only the minimum access rights required for their operational functions. Security teams should also consider implementing intrusion detection systems that can monitor for suspicious activity within virtual machine environments and establish incident response procedures specifically tailored to address virtualization-related security incidents. Organizations should also review their overall virtualization security posture, including hypervisor hardening, secure configuration management, and regular security assessments to prevent similar vulnerabilities from being exploited in other components of their virtualized infrastructure.