CVE-2026-87274 in VM VirtualBox
Summary
by MITRE • 09/16/2026
Vulnerability in the Oracle VM VirtualBox product of Oracle Virtualization (component: Core). The supported version that is affected is 7.2.16. Difficult to exploit vulnerability allows low privileged attacker with logon to the infrastructure where Oracle VM VirtualBox executes to compromise Oracle VM VirtualBox. Successful attacks require human interaction from a person other than the attacker. 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:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/16/2026
The identified vulnerability resides within the core component of Oracle VM VirtualBox, specifically affecting version 7.2.16 and potentially other supported releases in that lineage. This flaw represents a significant security concern for environments relying on virtualization technology to isolate workloads or test software configurations. The nature of this defect is characterized by its difficulty to exploit, which serves as a partial mitigating factor against widespread automated attacks. However, the potential impact remains severe due to the complete denial of service capability it affords an adversary who manages to trigger the condition. Understanding the mechanics and context of this vulnerability requires examining both the architectural role of VirtualBox core components and the specific conditions under which the flaw can be leveraged by a malicious actor.
From a technical perspective, the vulnerability allows for a low-privileged attacker with valid logon credentials on the host infrastructure to compromise the stability of the Oracle VM VirtualBox application itself. The term low privileged indicates that the attacker does not require administrative rights or root access on the underlying operating system where VirtualBox is running. Instead, standard user-level access is sufficient to initiate the attack vector. This distinction is critical because it lowers the barrier for entry significantly compared to vulnerabilities requiring high-privilege escalation. The core component of VirtualBox handles fundamental operations such as memory management, device emulation, and hypervisor interactions. A flaw in this layer suggests that the issue likely stems from improper handling of specific inputs or states during virtual machine execution or host-guest communication protocols.
The operational impact of successfully exploiting this vulnerability is a complete denial of service against Oracle VM VirtualBox. This manifests as either a hang where the application becomes unresponsive, requiring manual intervention to terminate, or a frequently repeatable crash that forces the application to exit unexpectedly. For users running critical virtual machines, such instability can lead to data loss if proper save states are not utilized, disruption of ongoing computational tasks, and potential cascading failures in dependent services that rely on the availability of these virtual environments. The CVSS 3.1 base score of 4.4 reflects a medium severity rating primarily driven by the high impact on availability despite the low impact on confidentiality and integrity. This scoring aligns with CWE-617, which classifies this as a Reachable DoS condition where an attacker can cause the application to crash or hang through specific interactions.
Exploitation of this vulnerability is not straightforward due to two primary constraints: high complexity and the requirement for human interaction. The attack vector requires local access, meaning the adversary must have physical or remote login capabilities on the machine hosting VirtualBox. Furthermore, successful exploitation necessitates a user other than the attacker interacting with the system in a specific way that triggers the flaw. This could involve opening a maliciously crafted file within a virtualized environment, clicking a deceptive element in a guest application, or performing an action that causes the host to process malformed data from the guest OS. The need for human interaction significantly reduces the risk of automated worm-like propagation but does not eliminate the threat posed by social engineering tactics or insider threats who can manipulate user behavior.
In terms of industry standard classifications, this vulnerability maps closely to ATT&CK technique T1499, Endpoint Denial of Service, specifically under sub-techniques involving resource exhaustion or application crashes. It also relates to CWE-20 Improper Input Validation if the root cause involves failing to sanitize data received from guest systems before processing it in the host core components. The local attack vector and low privilege requirement place this within the context of lateral movement scenarios where an attacker, having already compromised a lower-level account on the host, seeks to disrupt security tools or monitoring agents running as VirtualBox instances.
Mitigation strategies should focus primarily on patching and access control enhancements. Oracle has released updates addressing this issue in subsequent versions beyond 7.2.16, making immediate application of vendor-provided patches the most effective remediation step. Administrators must ensure that their virtualization platforms are kept up to date with the latest security fixes provided by Oracle. Additionally, since exploitation requires local logon access, enforcing strict authentication policies and multi-factor authentication for all accounts on systems running VirtualBox can reduce the likelihood of an attacker gaining the initial foothold required to attempt this exploit. Limiting user privileges so that only necessary personnel have login access to machines hosting critical virtual environments further reduces the attack surface.
Security monitoring should be enhanced to detect anomalies indicative of such attacks, although detection may be challenging given the benign nature of many denial-of-service symptoms. Monitoring for frequent crashes or hangs in VirtualBox processes could serve as an indicator of compromise when correlated with other suspicious activities on the host system. Educating users about social engineering tactics is also vital, as the requirement for human interaction makes phishing and deceptive prompts effective vectors for triggering this vulnerability. By combining timely patching, strict access controls, and user awareness training, organizations can effectively mitigate the risk posed by this availability-focused flaw in Oracle VM VirtualBox core components.