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DesktopApplication · Oculus

CVE-2021-24038

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-08-19
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 31.1.0.67.507 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
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
Due to a bug with management of handles in OVRServiceLauncher.exe, an attacker could expose a privileged process handle to an unprivileged process, leading to local privilege escalation. This issue affects Oculus Desktop versions after 1.39 and prior to 31.1.0.67.507.

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

A handle management bug in OVRServiceLauncher.exe allows an unprivileged process to obtain a handle to a privileged process, enabling local privilege escalation. The vulnerability stems from improper isolation of process handles in the Oculus Desktop software.

MitigationUpdate Oculus Desktop to version 31.1.0.67.507 or later to patch the handle management vulnerability. As a local privilege escalation with high CVSS score, prioritize patching on affected systems.

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
DesktopApplication
Affected:>= 1.39, < 31.1.0.67.507

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
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/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. Check if Oculus Desktop is installed
    Look for Oculus Desktop application in the system. On Windows, check Program Files or Program Files (x86) for an Oculus folder, or check the Windows Registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Oculus or HKLM\SOFTWARE\Oculus for Oculus entries.
    Affected if Oculus Desktop is not found on the system - the system is not affected.
  2. Identify installed Oculus Desktop version
    Open the Oculus app and navigate to Settings > About, or right-click the Oculus Desktop icon and select About. The version number is displayed there.
    Affected if The displayed version falls within the range >= 1.39 and < 31.1.0.67.507 - the system is vulnerable.
  3. Locate OVRServiceLauncher.exe
    Search for OVRServiceLauncher.exe in the Oculus installation directory, typically found in C:\Program Files\Oculus\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\Oculus\. Use file explorer search or command: dir /s C:\ "OVRServiceLauncher.exe"
    Affected if The file exists and the version is not 31.1.0.67.507 or later - the vulnerability may be present.
  4. Verify process handle vulnerability context
    This specific vulnerability allows an unprivileged process to obtain a handle to a privileged process through OVRServiceLauncher.exe. Check if the Oculus service or process is running with elevated privileges by opening Task Manager, locating Oculus-related processes, and examining their requested execution level.
    Affected if OVRServiceLauncher.exe runs with elevated privileges and the version is in the affected range - the system is affected by this privilege escalation flaw.

A system is affected if Oculus Desktop version is 1.39 or higher but lower than 31.1.0.67.507, and the OVRServiceLauncher.exe component is present and running with elevated privileges.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 31.1.0.67.507 or later
Fixed in 31.1.0.67.507
Interim mitigation

Update Oculus Desktop to version 31.1.0.67.507 or later to patch the handle management vulnerability. As a local privilege escalation with high CVSS score, prioritize patching on affected systems.

Recommended fix High confidence

31.1.0.67.507 or later

  1. 1. Open the Oculus Desktop application on your computer
  2. 2. Navigate to the settings or preferences section
  3. 3. Look for the 'Check for Updates' or 'Updates' option
  4. 4. If an update is available, download and install version 31.1.0.67.507 or later
  5. 5. Alternatively, uninstall the current Oculus Desktop version and download the fixed version from the official Oculus/Meta website
  6. 6. After installation, verify the installed version is 31.1.0.67.507 or higher to confirm the vulnerability is patched

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Desktop Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
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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-2021-24038 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