CVE-2026-71137 in 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 ability to cause a hang or frequently repeatable crash (complete DOS) of Oracle VM VirtualBox. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 6.0 (Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H).
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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 involved. This flaw represents a significant stability issue that undermines the reliability of the virtualization platform. The root cause is tied to improper handling of internal state or resource management during execution, which leads to unhandled exceptions or memory corruption conditions when triggered by specific inputs. Although the vulnerability is localized within the VirtualBox application layer, its presence poses a risk to the broader infrastructure because it can lead to a complete denial of service for the host system running the virtual machine manager. This aligns with CWE-400, which describes uncontrolled resource consumption, and potentially CWE-268 if there are issues related to lifecycle management or state inconsistencies that result in crashes.
The exploitation requirements for this vulnerability are notably restrictive from a privilege perspective but critical regarding access control. A high privileged attacker is required to initiate the attack vector. This means the adversary must already possess valid credentials with elevated privileges on the infrastructure where Oracle VM VirtualBox executes. The requirement for local logon indicates that remote network-based attacks without prior authentication are not feasible against this specific flaw. However, once an authenticated user with administrative or high-level access gains entry to the system, they can trigger the vulnerability through normal interaction with the virtualization software. This scenario is consistent with ATT&CK technique T1078, Valid Accounts, as it relies on legitimate credentials being misused by a malicious insider or an attacker who has compromised such accounts. The lack of user interface involvement means that social engineering tactics targeting end-users are not necessary; the attack can be executed programmatically or via command-line interfaces available to high-privileged users.
The operational impact of successfully exploiting this vulnerability is severe in terms of availability, as indicated by a CVSS 3.1 Base Score of 6.0 with an A:H (High) Availability impact. The primary consequence is the ability to cause Oracle VM VirtualBox to hang or experience frequent, repeatable crashes. This results in a complete denial of service for the virtualization environment. For organizations relying on VirtualBox for development, testing, or production workloads, such instability can lead to significant downtime and loss of productivity. Furthermore, because attacks may significantly impact additional products due to scope change, the crash could potentially affect other applications running concurrently on the host system if they share resources with the virtualization process or rely on stable hypervisor behavior for their own operation. This cascading effect amplifies the business risk beyond just the failure of VirtualBox itself.
Mitigation strategies should focus primarily on access control and patch management given the high privilege requirement for exploitation. Organizations must enforce strict least-privilege principles to ensure that only essential personnel have administrative or high-level access to systems running Oracle VM VirtualBox. Multi-factor authentication and rigorous monitoring of privileged account usage can help detect unauthorized attempts to leverage these credentials. Additionally, applying the latest security patches from Oracle is critical as newer versions likely contain fixes for this core component flaw. Security teams should also implement robust logging and alerting mechanisms to monitor for unusual processes or resource consumption patterns that might indicate an attempted exploitation. Regular audits of user permissions on virtualization hosts will reduce the attack surface available to potential insiders or compromised accounts seeking to disrupt service availability.