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Vm VirtualboxApplication · Oracle

CVE-2020-14698

MEDIUM · 5.3 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 →
55/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 unauthorized access to critical data or complete access to all Oracle VM VirtualBox accessible data. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 5.3 (Confidentiality impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N).

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

Vulnerability in Oracle VM VirtualBox Core component allows a high-privileged attacker with local infrastructure access to compromise VirtualBox and potentially access critical data. The difficult-to-exploit flaw affects versions prior to 5.2.44, 6.0.24, and 6.1.12, with attacks possibly impacting additional products beyond VirtualBox.

MitigationUpgrade VirtualBox to version 5.2.44, 6.0.24, 6.1.12 or later per Oracle's patch release. Review access controls to the virtualization infrastructure given the local attack vector.

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
None
Availability
None

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

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 installation
    Check if VirtualBox is installed by running 'VBoxManage --version' or searching for VirtualBox packages (e.g., 'rpm -qa | grep -i virtualbox' on RHEL-based systems, 'dpkg -l | grep -i virtualbox' on Debian-based).
    Affected if VirtualBox is found on the system.
  2. Identify installed VirtualBox version
    Run 'VBoxManage --version' to obtain the exact version number, or check the package manager output from the previous step.
    Affected if Version is displayed (e.g., 6.0.20, 6.1.0, 5.2.40).
  3. Compare version against affected ranges
    Compare the installed version to: < 5.2.44, >= 6.0.0 and < 6.0.24, or >= 6.1.0 and < 6.1.12. Any version matching these ranges is vulnerable.
    Affected if Version is less than 5.2.44, OR is 6.0.x where x is less than 24, OR is 6.1.x where x is less than 12.
  4. Check OpenSUSE Leap environment (if applicable)
    If the system runs OpenSUSE, verify the release version by running 'cat /etc/os-release' or 'lsb_release -a'. Look for 'LEAP_15.1' or 'LEAP_15.2'.
    Affected if Operating system is OpenSUSE Leap 15.1 or 15.2 with a vulnerable VirtualBox version present.

The environment is affected if VirtualBox is installed and its version falls below 5.2.44, between 6.0.0-6.0.23, or between 6.1.0-6.1.11, particularly on OpenSUSE Leap 15.1 or 15.2 systems.

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

Upgrade VirtualBox to version 5.2.44, 6.0.24, 6.1.12 or later per Oracle's patch release. Review access controls to the virtualization infrastructure given the local attack vector.

Fix this in Vm Virtualbox Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,570
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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-2020-14698 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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