CVE-2021-2286 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 unauthenticated 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 3.1 Base Score 7.1 (Integrity impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:N).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/29/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2021-2286 represents a critical integrity flaw within Oracle VM VirtualBox's core component, affecting versions prior to 6.1.20. This vulnerability falls under the Common Weakness Enumeration category CWE-284 which specifically addresses improper access control mechanisms. The flaw exists in the virtualization platform's handling of authentication and authorization processes, creating a pathway for malicious actors to gain unauthorized access to the virtualization environment. The vulnerability's classification as easily exploitable indicates that attackers require minimal prerequisites to leverage this weakness, making it particularly dangerous in production environments where virtual machines are actively running.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from insufficient access controls within the VirtualBox core functionality, allowing an attacker who has already gained logon access to the underlying infrastructure to escalate privileges and compromise the virtualization platform itself. This represents a significant security gap where the attacker's initial access to the host system can be leveraged to gain deeper access to the virtualization layer. The CVSS 3.1 scoring of 7.1 reflects the high impact on integrity, with the vector AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C indicating that the attack requires local access but low complexity, with no user interaction required and a potentially catastrophic scope impact. The vulnerability's ability to enable unauthorized creation, deletion, or modification of critical data directly impacts the integrity of the entire virtualization environment.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond the immediate VirtualBox installation to potentially affect multiple dependent systems and applications that rely on the virtualization platform for their operation. When an attacker successfully exploits this vulnerability, they can manipulate virtual machine configurations, access sensitive data stored within virtual environments, and potentially establish persistent access points within the network infrastructure. This creates a cascading effect where compromise of a single virtualization host can lead to widespread data integrity issues across multiple virtual machines and applications. The vulnerability's scope classification as "C" (Complete) indicates that the impact could extend to all Oracle VM VirtualBox accessible data, potentially affecting the integrity of virtualized applications and services.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2021-2286 should prioritize immediate patching of all affected VirtualBox installations to version 6.1.20 or later, as this represents the primary defense against exploitation. Organizations should implement network segmentation to limit access to virtualization hosts and enforce strict access controls on the underlying infrastructure. The principle of least privilege should be applied to virtualization management interfaces, ensuring that only authorized personnel have access to the virtualization platform. Additional monitoring should be implemented to detect unauthorized access attempts and configuration changes within virtualization environments, as these activities may indicate exploitation attempts. Security teams should also consider implementing multi-factor authentication for administrative access to virtualization platforms and regularly audit virtual machine configurations to detect any unauthorized modifications that might result from exploitation of this vulnerability.