CVE-2020-2910 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 6.0.20 and prior to 6.1.6. 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 creation, deletion or modification access to critical data or all Oracle VM VirtualBox accessible data. CVSS 3.0 Base Score 6.5 (Integrity impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:N).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/26/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2020-2910 represents a critical integrity flaw within Oracle VM VirtualBox's core component that affects versions prior to 6.0.20 and 6.1.6. This vulnerability operates under the Common Weakness Enumeration framework as a weakness related to insufficient privilege checks and inadequate access control mechanisms, specifically categorized under CWE-284 which addresses improper access control. The flaw manifests in a manner that allows attackers with low-privileged local access to the host system where VirtualBox operates to potentially compromise the entire virtualization environment. The CVSS 3.0 scoring of 6.5 reflects the severity of the integrity impact, with a low attack complexity and low privilege requirements, making it particularly dangerous in environments where local access might be obtained through various attack vectors.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from inadequate validation of access controls within VirtualBox's core architecture, allowing unauthorized modifications to critical system data. Attackers who can establish a foothold on the host system through legitimate means or exploitation of other vulnerabilities can leverage this flaw to manipulate virtual machine configurations, access virtual disk images, or modify critical system components. The vulnerability's impact extends beyond just VirtualBox itself, as it can potentially compromise additional Oracle products that rely on the virtualization environment or share common infrastructure components. The attack vector requires local access with user-level privileges, which makes it particularly concerning given that many organizations allow users with standard login credentials to access host systems where virtualization platforms operate.
The operational consequences of successful exploitation can be severe, enabling attackers to create, delete, or modify access to all data accessible through the VirtualBox environment. This capability allows for significant data integrity compromise and can facilitate further attacks within the network infrastructure. The vulnerability's potential for cascading effects means that compromising a single VirtualBox instance could provide attackers with access to multiple virtual machines and their respective data, potentially affecting entire organizational virtualization deployments. Organizations utilizing older versions of VirtualBox may find their entire virtualized infrastructure at risk, particularly in environments where security boundaries between host and guest systems are not properly enforced.
Mitigation strategies should prioritize immediate patching of affected VirtualBox installations to versions 6.0.20 or 6.1.6 and later, which contain the necessary security fixes to address the access control vulnerabilities. System administrators should implement additional security controls including mandatory access controls, regular vulnerability assessments of virtualization environments, and monitoring for unauthorized access attempts. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this type of vulnerability under privilege escalation techniques, specifically targeting the 'Exploitation for Privilege Escalation' tactic, making it important for organizations to monitor for suspicious activities that could indicate exploitation attempts. Network segmentation and proper access control policies should be implemented to limit the potential impact of such vulnerabilities, while regular security audits of virtualization environments should be conducted to identify and remediate similar weaknesses before they can be exploited by malicious actors.