dbcve.org
Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 24 Mar 2022.
VirtualboxApplication · Oracle

CVE-2008-3431

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2008-08-05
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.6.4 or later.
See remediation →
96/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild Public exploit Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
The VBoxDrvNtDeviceControl function in VBoxDrv.sys in Sun xVM VirtualBox before 1.6.4 uses the METHOD_NEITHER communication method for IOCTLs and does not properly validate a buffer associated with the Irp object, which allows local users to gain privileges by opening the \\.\VBoxDrv device and calling DeviceIoControl to send a crafted kernel address.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

The VBoxDrv.sys driver in Sun xVM VirtualBox before 1.6.4 uses the METHOD_NEITHER communication method for IOCTLs, which passes user-mode buffers directly to kernel mode without proper validation. This allows local attackers to manipulate kernel memory addresses through the \.\VBoxDrv device and achieve privilege escalation.

MitigationUpgrade VirtualBox to version 1.6.4 or later where the driver properly validates Irp buffers. As a compensating control, restrict local user access to the system.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
VirtualboxApplication
Affected:< 1.6.4

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check installed VirtualBox version
    Open VirtualBox and navigate to Help > About to view the installed version.
    Affected if The installed version is less than 1.6.4.
  2. Verify if METHOD_NEITHER communication method is enabled
    Review the VirtualBox configuration or documentation to confirm if METHOD_NEITHER is utilized for IOCTLs.
    Affected if METHOD_NEITHER communication method is enabled.
  3. Inspect access to the \.\ device
    Check system logs or configurations for any access permissions related to the \.\ device.
    Affected if Access to the \.\ device is not properly restricted.

You are affected if you are running a version of VirtualBox prior to 1.6.4 with METHOD_NEITHER enabled and insufficient access restrictions.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 1.6.4 or later
Fixed in 1.6.4
Interim mitigation

Upgrade VirtualBox to version 1.6.4 or later where the driver properly validates Irp buffers. As a compensating control, restrict local user access to the system.

Recommended fix High confidence

VirtualBox 1.6.4 or later (preferably latest stable release)

  1. 1. Back up all virtual machines and their configuration files
  2. 2. Uninstall the current version of VirtualBox
  3. 3. Download VirtualBox version 1.6.4 or later from the official VirtualBox website or your system's package manager
  4. 4. Install the updated VirtualBox version
  5. 5. Verify the installation by checking the installed version
Caveat VirtualBox 1.6.4 is from 2008; upgrading to a modern version is recommended for security but may require updating guest additions and reconfiguring VMs

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Virtualbox Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
32.0 hours of engineering $5,600
Get it fixed fast

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $8,960.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-3431 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2008-3431 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data