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Vm VirtualboxApplication · Oracle

CVE-2020-14647

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-07-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.2.44 / 6.0.24 or later.
See remediation →
77/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Vulnerability in the Oracle VM VirtualBox product of Oracle Virtualization (component: Core). Supported versions that are affected are Prior to 5.2.44, prior to 6.0.24 and prior to 6.1.12. Difficult to exploit 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. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in takeover of Oracle VM VirtualBox. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 7.5 (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H).

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

Local privilege escalation vulnerability in Oracle VM VirtualBox Core component. Requires high-privileged attacker with local system access to compromise VirtualBox, leading to potential takeover. The 'Changed' scope indicates the vulnerability impacts resources beyond VirtualBox itself. Difficult to exploit due to high attack complexity.

MitigationUpdate VirtualBox to version 5.2.44, 6.0.24, 6.1.12 or later. Since this is a local privilege escalation, ensure systems are not exposed to untrusted users and apply the appropriate patch based on your installed version branch.

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
Vm VirtualboxApplication
Affected:< 5.2.44>= 6.0.0, < 6.0.24>= 6.1.0, < 6.1.12
LeapOperating system
Affected:= 15.1= 15.2

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
High
Privileges
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/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. Verify VirtualBox is installed
    Run 'VBoxManage --version' or check for VirtualBox package using your system's package manager (e.g., 'dpkg -l | grep virtualbox' on Debian/Ubuntu, 'rpm -qa | grep -i virtualbox' on RHEL-based systems, or 'zypper se virtualbox' on SUSE)
    Affected if VirtualBox is installed and running on the system
  2. Identify installed VirtualBox version
    Execute 'VBoxManage --version' to get the exact version number (e.g., 6.1.10). Note the major version branch (5.2.x, 6.0.x, or 6.1.x)
    Affected if Version output shows any version < 5.2.44, or >= 6.0.0 but < 6.0.24, or >= 6.1.0 but < 6.1.12
  3. Check for untrusted local users
    Review /etc/passwd for non-system user accounts and check /etc/shadow permissions or use 'ls -la /home' to see if multiple user home directories exist beyond the primary administrator
    Affected if Multiple non-privileged local user accounts exist who could potentially leverage the privilege escalation
  4. Verify VirtualBox service status
    Run 'systemctl status vboxdrv' or 'systemctl status virtualbox' to confirm VirtualBox kernel modules are loaded and the service is active
    Affected if VirtualBox is actively running with kernel modules loaded on a system with untrusted local users

The system is affected if VirtualBox is installed with a version matching the affected ranges (less than 5.2.44, 6.0.x prior to 6.0.24, or 6.1.x prior to 6.1.12) AND untrusted local users have access to the system.

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.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to 5.2.44 / 6.0.24 / 6.1.12 or later
Fixed in 5.2.446.0.246.1.12
Interim mitigation

Update VirtualBox to version 5.2.44, 6.0.24, 6.1.12 or later. Since this is a local privilege escalation, ensure systems are not exposed to untrusted users and apply the appropriate patch based on your installed version branch.

Fix this in Vm Virtualbox Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,040
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,664.

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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-2020-14647 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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