CVE-2021-2112
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). The supported version that is affected is Prior to 6.1.18. 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 ability to cause a hang or frequently repeatable crash (complete DOS) of Oracle VM VirtualBox. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 6.0 (Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/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 confidenceA denial of service vulnerability in Oracle VM VirtualBox's core component allows a high-privileged attacker with local access to the infrastructure to cause the VirtualBox hypervisor to hang or crash repeatedly. The scope change indicates attacks may impact additional products beyond VirtualBox itself.
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< 6.1.18CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check if VirtualBox is installedOn Windows: Check for VirtualBox in Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox or look for VirtualBox.exe in common locations. On Linux: Run 'which VBoxManage' or check for virtualbox packages via dpkg/rpm. On macOS: Check /Applications for VirtualBox.app.Affected if VirtualBox is found installed on the system
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Determine the installed VirtualBox versionRun 'VBoxManage --version' from command line, or check the About dialog in VirtualBox GUI if accessible.Affected if The version number returned is lower than 6.1.18 (for example, 6.1.16, 6.1.0, 5.x, etc.)
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Verify VirtualBox services are runningOn Windows: Check if 'VirtualBox System Service' or 'VBoxSVC' process is running via Task Manager or sc query vboxsvc. On Linux: Check for VBoxSVC or virtualbox processes via ps aux | grep -i virtualbox.Affected if VirtualBox components are actively running on the system
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Confirm local attacker access path existsReview system access controls: check if untrusted local users have high-privileged account access (administrator/root or equivalent) that could execute code locally.Affected if Untrusted local users have high-privileged access to the VirtualBox host system
You are affected if VirtualBox is installed with a version lower than 6.1.18 and the host system is accessible to local users with high privileges.
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 data6.1.18
Upgrade Oracle VM VirtualBox to version 6.1.18 or later to obtain the vendor patch.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,664.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-2112 — 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-2021-2112 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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