CVE-2026-71115 in VM VirtualBox
Summary
by MITRE • 08/19/2026
Vulnerability in the Oracle VM VirtualBox product of Oracle Virtualization (component: Core). The supported version that is affected is 7.2.14. 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 unauthorized access to critical data or complete access to all Oracle VM VirtualBox accessible data. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 6.0 (Confidentiality impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/19/2026
The identified vulnerability resides within the core component of Oracle VM VirtualBox, specifically affecting version 7.2.14 and potentially other supported releases depending on the specific code path exploited. This flaw represents a significant security risk because it allows for privilege escalation or unauthorized data access under conditions that are relatively straightforward to satisfy from an attacker's perspective. The vulnerability is classified with a CVSS 3.1 Base Score of 6.0, indicating a medium severity level primarily driven by high confidentiality impacts. The vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N) reveals that while the attack requires local access and high privileges initially, it exhibits low complexity for exploitation and does not require user interaction. Crucially, the scope is changed from C to indicate that a vulnerability in this virtualization layer can impact resources beyond the immediate guest or host environment, suggesting potential escape vectors or cross-VM contamination risks.
From a technical standpoint, vulnerabilities in hypervisor cores often stem from improper handling of memory structures, race conditions in device emulation, or insufficient validation of inputs passed between the guest operating system and the host kernel. In this context, an attacker who has already achieved high privileged access on the infrastructure where VirtualBox executes can leverage this flaw to compromise the integrity of the virtualization software itself. The operational impact is severe regarding data confidentiality. Successful exploitation enables unauthorized access to critical data stored within or accessible by Oracle VM VirtualBox instances. This could include sensitive configuration files, memory dumps from guest systems, or persistent storage volumes that are mapped into the host environment. Although immediate integrity and availability impacts are not explicitly detailed in the base score as primary outcomes, the potential for complete access to all accessible data poses a substantial risk to organizational security postures, particularly in environments where multiple tenants share virtualization infrastructure.
The requirement for high privileged access on the underlying infrastructure suggests that this vulnerability is likely part of an attack chain rather than a standalone remote exploit vector. An adversary would typically need to first compromise a system with elevated permissions through other means such as credential theft or misconfiguration exploitation before they can trigger this specific flaw in VirtualBox. However, once inside, the low complexity and lack of user interaction requirements make it highly efficient for an attacker to escalate their foothold or pivot laterally across virtualized assets. This aligns with ATT&CK techniques related to privilege escalation and defense evasion within containerized or virtualized environments. The scope change noted in the CVSS vector underscores that the blast radius extends beyond the isolated guest VM, potentially affecting other guests on the same host or even the host system itself if memory isolation boundaries are breached.
Mitigation strategies must focus on both immediate patching and long-term architectural hardening. Organizations running Oracle VM VirtualBox version 7.2.14 should apply vendor-provided security updates immediately to address this core vulnerability. Since exploitation requires high privileged access, enforcing strict least-privilege principles across the infrastructure is critical. Administrators should audit user accounts with administrative rights on hosts running virtualization software and ensure that such privileges are granted only to essential services or personnel. Additionally, implementing network segmentation can limit lateral movement if a host is compromised. Monitoring for unusual process creation or memory access patterns within VirtualBox processes may aid in early detection of exploitation attempts. Regular vulnerability scanning focused on hypervisor components and keeping all virtualization software up to date with the latest security patches are essential practices to maintain resilience against such core-level flaws.