CVE-2020-14703
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 · uneditedVulnerability 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. 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. 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 6.0 (Confidentiality impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/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 confidenceOracle VM VirtualBox contains an information disclosure vulnerability in its Core component. The flaw allows a high-privileged local attacker to gain unauthorized access to critical data or complete access to all VirtualBox-accessible data. The vulnerability affects versions prior to 5.2.44, 6.0.24, and 6.1.12, and despite being local (AV:L), its scope change (S:C) means attacks can impact additional products in the environment.
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< 5.2.44>= 6.0.0, < 6.0.24>= 6.1.0, < 6.1.12= 15.1= 15.2CVSS 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
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify VirtualBox is installedCheck for VirtualBox binaries or running processes on the system. On Linux, run 'which VBoxManage' or 'dpkg -l | grep -i virtualbox' or 'rpm -qa | grep -i virtualbox'. On Windows, check Program Files for Oracle VirtualBox or run 'VBoxManage --version'.Affected if VirtualBox is found installed on the system
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Determine installed VirtualBox versionRun 'VBoxManage --version' on Linux or Windows command line to retrieve the exact version number.Affected if The version returned is less than 5.2.44, or between 6.0.0 and 6.0.24 inclusive, or between 6.1.0 and 6.1.12 inclusive
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Check host operating systemIdentify the host OS running VirtualBox. On Linux, run 'cat /etc/os-release' or 'uname -a'.Affected if The system is OpenSUSE Leap 15.1 or 15.2 with VirtualBox packages installed, regardless of VirtualBox version
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Confirm high-privileged local access existsVerify the presence of local user accounts with elevated privileges (administrator, root, or sudo access) on the VirtualBox host system.Affected if Local users with administrative or root privileges exist on the host, as the vulnerability requires a high-privileged local attacker
The environment is affected if VirtualBox is installed with a version matching the vulnerable ranges (below 5.2.44, 6.0.x before 6.0.24, or 6.1.x before 6.1.12), or if running on OpenSUSE Leap 15.1/15.2 with VirtualBox packages, and local high-privileged access is present.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 data5.2.446.0.246.1.12
Upgrade Oracle VM VirtualBox to version 5.2.44, 6.0.24, 6.1.12 or later to remediate this vulnerability.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-14703 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-14703 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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
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