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Vm VirtualboxApplication · Oracle

CVE-2020-2951

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-04-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.2.40 / 6.0.20 or later.
See remediation →
67/100
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 5.2.40, prior to 6.0.20 and prior to 6.1.6. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows low 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 ability to cause a hang or frequently repeatable crash (complete DOS) of Oracle VM VirtualBox. CVSS 3.0 Base Score 6.5 (Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/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/DoS vulnerability in Oracle VM VirtualBox Core component. A low-privileged attacker with logon access to the host infrastructure can cause VirtualBox to hang or crash repeatedly, resulting in complete denial of service. The changed scope (S:C) indicates attacks may impact additional products in the environment.

MitigationUpgrade Oracle VM VirtualBox to version 5.2.40, 6.0.20, 6.1.6 or later to remediate this vulnerability.

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:< 5.2.40>= 6.0.0, < 6.0.20>= 6.1.0, < 6.1.6
LeapOperating system
Affected:= 15.1

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
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/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' on Linux/Windows or check installed programs on Windows via registry or Programs and Features. On Linux, also try 'dpkg -l | grep -i virtualbox' or 'rpm -qa | grep -i virtualbox'.
    Affected if VirtualBox is installed and the version command returns a version number.
  2. Compare installed version against affected ranges
    If VirtualBox is installed, note the version number returned by VBoxManage --version and compare it to the following vulnerable ranges: versions less than 5.2.40, OR versions 6.0.0 through 6.0.19, OR versions 6.1.0 through 6.1.5.
    Affected if The installed version falls into any of these ranges: < 5.2.40, >= 6.0.0 and < 6.0.20, or >= 6.1.0 and < 6.1.6.
  3. Check if VirtualBox services or VMs are running
    On Linux, run 'ps aux | grep -i vbox' or check for VBoxSVC process. On Windows, check Task Manager for VirtualBox processes or VBox services. Also check 'VBoxManage list runningvms'.
    Affected if VirtualBox processes, services, or any running virtual machines are present on the system.
  4. Verify OpenSUSE Leap 15.1 environment
    If the host OS is OpenSUSE, run 'cat /etc/os-release' or 'lsb_release -a' to confirm the exact version. Check if VirtualBox packages were installed via the system package manager.
    Affected if The host system is OpenSUSE Leap version 15.1 with VirtualBox installed.

A system is affected if VirtualBox is installed with a version less than 5.2.40, between 6.0.0-6.0.19, or between 6.1.0-6.1.5, and VirtualBox is in use on the host (running services, processes, or VMs).

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 5.2.40 / 6.0.20 / 6.1.6 or later
Fixed in 5.2.406.0.206.1.6
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Oracle VM VirtualBox to version 5.2.40, 6.0.20, 6.1.6 or later to remediate this vulnerability.

Fix this in Vm Virtualbox Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,540
Get the upgrade done

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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2020-2951 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