Vm VirtualboxApplication · Oracle

CVE-2022-39425

HIGH · 8.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-10-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.1.40 or later.
See remediation →
90/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click Patch available

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 6.1.40. Difficult to exploit vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via VRDP to compromise Oracle VM VirtualBox. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in takeover of Oracle VM VirtualBox. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 8.1 (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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
How this class of weakness works · CWE-306

A sensitive function is reachable with no authentication at all, so anyone who finds the endpoint can use it. These are routinely discovered by automated scanning. The fix is to require and enforce authentication on every privileged path, with no exceptions left open.

General guidance for the missing authentication class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

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:< 6.1.40

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
Network
Complexity
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

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 6.1.40 or later
Fixed in 6.1.40
Vendor patch www.oracle.com →
Recommended fix High confidence

VirtualBox 6.1.40 or later

  1. 1. Back up all important virtual machines and their configurations before proceeding with the update.
  2. 2. Identify the currently installed VirtualBox version by opening VirtualBox and navigating to Help > About VirtualBox, or by running `VBoxManage --version` from the command line.
  3. 3. Stop any running virtual machines and close the VirtualBox application completely.
  4. 4. Download VirtualBox version 6.1.40 (or a later stable version) from the official Oracle VirtualBox download page: https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads
  5. 5. Run the installer for your operating system (Windows, macOS, or Linux) and follow the on-screen prompts to install the update.
  6. 6. During installation, ensure the option to install the VirtualBox USB, Networking, and Bridged Networking drivers is selected if prompted.
  7. 7. After installation completes, restart the host computer to ensure all VirtualBox drivers are properly loaded.
  8. 8. Launch VirtualBox and verify the version now shows 6.1.40 or later under Help > About VirtualBox.
Caveat Minor VirtualBox version upgrades typically maintain VM compatibility, but always ensure backups exist before updating; some older VM configurations may require adjustment after major version changes.

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

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $1,950. Get the upgrade done

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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-2022-39425 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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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