CVE-2023-21990 in VM VirtualBox
Summary
by MITRE • 04/18/2023
Vulnerability in the Oracle VM VirtualBox product of Oracle Virtualization (component: Core). Supported versions that are affected are Prior to 6.1.44 and Prior to 7.0.8. 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 (scope change). 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).
If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/13/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-21990 represents a critical security flaw within Oracle VM VirtualBox's core component, specifically affecting versions prior to 6.1.44 and 7.0.8. This issue resides within Oracle's virtualization infrastructure and demonstrates how vulnerabilities in foundational virtualization software can create cascading security risks across entire computing environments. The vulnerability's classification as easily exploitable indicates that attackers with high-privileged access to the underlying infrastructure where VirtualBox operates can leverage this flaw to gain complete control over the virtualization platform itself.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from insufficient access controls and potential privilege escalation mechanisms within the VirtualBox core functionality. Attackers with local high-privileged access can exploit this weakness to compromise the virtualization environment, potentially gaining unauthorized control over all virtual machines managed by the vulnerable instance. This represents a significant concern given that VirtualBox typically runs with elevated privileges on the host system, making such attacks particularly dangerous. The vulnerability's CVSS score of 8.2 reflects the severe impact across confidentiality, integrity, and availability domains, indicating that successful exploitation could lead to complete system compromise.
From an operational perspective, the impact of this vulnerability extends beyond the immediate VirtualBox instance to potentially affect multiple additional products within the computing ecosystem. This scope change aspect of the vulnerability means that compromise of VirtualBox could enable attackers to target other systems that depend on or interact with the virtualized environment. The attack vector requires local high-privileged access, which suggests that attackers have already gained some level of system compromise, but the vulnerability allows them to escalate their privileges to full system control. This characteristic aligns with ATT&CK framework techniques related to privilege escalation and lateral movement within compromised environments.
The implications of CVE-2023-21990 extend to organizations that rely heavily on virtualization for their computing infrastructure, as compromise of VirtualBox could provide attackers with access to multiple virtual machines and the data they contain. Organizations using older versions of VirtualBox should prioritize immediate patching to address this vulnerability, as the attack requires only high-privileged access to the host system rather than complex external exploitation techniques. The vulnerability's presence in both the 6.1 and 7.0 release lines indicates that it represents a fundamental flaw in the VirtualBox architecture that affects multiple generations of the software.
Security professionals should consider this vulnerability as part of broader virtualization security assessments, particularly focusing on the principle of least privilege for VirtualBox installations. The vulnerability's characteristics align with CWE categories related to privilege escalation and insufficient access control, making it a critical target for remediation efforts. Organizations should implement comprehensive monitoring for unauthorized access attempts and ensure that VirtualBox installations are properly updated to versions that address this specific vulnerability. The combination of high-impact CVSS scoring and the relatively straightforward exploitation requirements makes this vulnerability particularly concerning for enterprise environments that depend on virtualization for their operations.