CVE-2021-2250 in VM VirtualBox
Summary
by MITRE • 04/23/2021
Vulnerability in the Oracle VM VirtualBox product of Oracle Virtualization (component: Core). The supported version that is affected is Prior to 6.1.20. 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 3.1 Base Score 8.2 (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/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 • 04/29/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2021-2250 represents a critical security flaw within Oracle VM VirtualBox's core component, specifically affecting versions prior to 6.1.20. This issue falls under the Common Weakness Enumeration category CWE-284 which describes improper access control mechanisms, making it particularly dangerous for virtualization environments where privilege escalation can lead to complete system compromise. The vulnerability's classification as easily exploitable indicates that attackers with legitimate access to the host infrastructure can leverage this weakness to gain unauthorized control over the virtualization platform, fundamentally undermining the security boundaries that virtual machines are designed to maintain.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from insufficient access controls within Oracle VM VirtualBox's core execution environment, allowing a high-privileged attacker who already possesses login credentials to escalate their privileges and achieve complete control over the virtualization infrastructure. The CVSS 3.1 scoring of 8.2 reflects the severity of potential impacts across confidentiality, integrity, and availability domains, with attack vector classified as local access (AV:L) indicating the attacker must already have system-level access. The attack complexity is rated as low (AC:L) suggesting that exploitation requires minimal technical expertise beyond having legitimate credentials, while the privilege requirement is high (PR:H) meaning the attacker must already be authenticated at the system level. The scope of impact is classified as changed (S:C), indicating that successful exploitation could extend beyond the immediate target to affect additional systems or components within the virtualized environment.
The operational implications of this vulnerability are severe for organizations relying on Oracle VM VirtualBox for their virtualization needs, as it creates a potential pathway for attackers to compromise not just individual virtual machines but the entire virtualization platform. This could result in complete takeover of the virtualization infrastructure, enabling attackers to access all virtual machines hosted on the system, potentially leading to data breaches, service disruption, and further lateral movement within the network. The impact extends beyond the immediate Oracle VM VirtualBox environment as virtualization platforms often serve as foundational components for larger IT infrastructures, making this vulnerability particularly dangerous for enterprise environments. Organizations may experience cascading security failures where compromise of a single virtualization host can lead to widespread system compromise across multiple virtualized applications and services.
Mitigation strategies should prioritize immediate patching of Oracle VM VirtualBox installations to version 6.1.20 or later, as this represents the primary defense against exploitation. System administrators should implement strict access controls and privilege management to limit who can log into systems hosting virtualization platforms, reducing the attack surface for potential exploitation. Network segmentation and monitoring should be enhanced to detect unusual activities that might indicate exploitation attempts, particularly around virtual machine management interfaces and system-level access patterns. Organizations should also conduct comprehensive security assessments of their virtualization environments to identify any other potential access control weaknesses that could be exploited in conjunction with this vulnerability. The ATT&CK framework's T1078 privilege escalation techniques should be monitored for any suspicious activities that might indicate exploitation attempts, while regular vulnerability scanning should be implemented to identify similar access control weaknesses across the broader infrastructure.