CVE-2023-21884 in VM VirtualBox
Summary
by MITRE • 01/18/2023
Vulnerability in the Oracle VM VirtualBox product of Oracle Virtualization (component: Core). Supported versions that are affected are Prior to 6.1.42 and prior to 7.0.6. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows high privileged attacker with logon to the infrastructure where Oracle VM VirtualBox executes to compromise Oracle VM VirtualBox. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized ability to cause a hang or frequently repeatable crash (complete DOS) of Oracle VM VirtualBox. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 4.4 (Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/14/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-21884 represents a critical availability risk within Oracle VM VirtualBox's core component, affecting versions prior to 6.1.42 and 7.0.6. This flaw resides in the virtualization infrastructure's core processing mechanisms and demonstrates how seemingly minor implementation gaps can lead to significant system compromise. The vulnerability's classification as easily exploitable indicates that attackers with high-privileged access to the underlying infrastructure can leverage this weakness to execute malicious code against the virtualization platform. The CVSS 3.1 score of 4.4 reflects the availability impact severity, with a base score that emphasizes the potential for complete denial of service conditions. The attack vector requires local access with high privileges, suggesting that the vulnerability is most dangerous in environments where attackers have already established a foothold within the virtualization infrastructure.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from improper handling of specific input processing within VirtualBox's core components, creating conditions where maliciously crafted data can trigger system instability. This flaw operates at a fundamental level of the virtualization stack, potentially allowing attackers to manipulate memory structures or processing sequences that govern virtual machine execution. The vulnerability's impact manifests as either system hangs or repeated crashes that can completely disable the virtualization platform, effectively rendering the entire virtualization environment unavailable to legitimate users. The fact that this vulnerability affects both major version lines demonstrates the persistence of the underlying design flaw across multiple release cycles. The low access complexity and high privilege requirements suggest that this vulnerability serves as a stepping stone for attackers who have already gained administrative access to the host system, potentially enabling them to escalate their control over the virtualization infrastructure.
The operational impact of CVE-2023-21884 extends beyond simple system downtime, as it can completely compromise the availability of virtualized environments that organizations rely upon for business continuity. Organizations utilizing Oracle VM VirtualBox for critical workloads face significant risk of service disruption, potentially affecting multiple virtual machines simultaneously if the vulnerability is successfully exploited. The vulnerability's potential to cause complete system crashes aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.001 for network denial of service, though applied to virtualization infrastructure rather than network systems. The availability impact score of 4.4 indicates that while the vulnerability may not directly result in data compromise or privilege escalation, it can severely impact operational capabilities and business continuity. This type of vulnerability particularly affects organizations that depend heavily on virtualized infrastructure for development, testing, or production environments where system availability is paramount for maintaining service levels and operational efficiency.
Security practitioners should prioritize immediate patching of affected systems, as the vulnerability's classification as easily exploitable means that attackers with existing high-privileged access can quickly leverage this weakness. The patching process should include verification of the specific version numbers to ensure that systems are updated to 6.1.42 or 7.0.6, as these releases contain the necessary fixes for the core processing flaws. Organizations should also implement monitoring for unusual system behavior or repeated crashes that could indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability's location within the core component suggests that comprehensive system integrity checks should be performed to detect any potential exploitation attempts. Mitigation strategies should include network segmentation to limit access to virtualization infrastructure, ensuring that only authorized personnel can access systems running VirtualBox. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing additional logging and monitoring capabilities specifically designed to detect anomalies in virtualization platform behavior. The vulnerability's relationship to CWE-119, which addresses memory safety issues, indicates that proper input validation and memory management practices should be reinforced throughout the virtualization environment. This vulnerability demonstrates the importance of maintaining up-to-date virtualization platforms and implementing comprehensive security controls that protect not only the guest operating systems but also the underlying virtualization infrastructure itself.