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Vm VirtualboxApplication · Oracle

CVE-2024-21116

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-04-16
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 7.0.16 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
Vulnerability in the Oracle VM VirtualBox product of Oracle Virtualization (component: Core). Supported versions that are affected are Prior to 7.0.16. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows low privileged attacker with logon to the infrastructure where Oracle VM VirtualBox executes to compromise Oracle VM VirtualBox. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in takeover of Oracle VM VirtualBox. Note: This vulnerability applies to Linux hosts only. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 7.8 (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 · high confidence

Local privilege escalation vulnerability in Oracle VM VirtualBox Core component affecting Linux hosts. A low-privileged attacker with local system access can exploit this vulnerability to achieve complete takeover of the VirtualBox virtualization environment, with high impact across confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

MitigationUpgrade Oracle VM VirtualBox to version 7.0.16 or later on all affected Linux hosts.

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:< 7.0.16

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. Identify installed VirtualBox version
    Run 'vboxmanage --version' or check the package manager (dpkg -l | grep virtualbox, rpm -qa | grep virtualbox) on the Linux host
    Affected if The version number displayed is less than 7.0.16 (for example, 7.0.14, 7.0.10, 6.1.x, etc.)
  2. Confirm host operating system
    Run 'uname -a' or 'cat /etc/os-release' to verify the host is running Linux
    Affected if The host OS is Linux and VirtualBox version is below 7.0.16
  3. Verify VirtualBox core components are installed
    Check for presence of VirtualBox kernel modules (lsmod | grep vbox) or running services (systemctl list-units | grep -i virtualbox)
    Affected if VirtualBox is actively installed/running on a Linux host with version below 7.0.16
  4. Check for any running VirtualBox processes
    Run 'ps aux | grep -i vbox' to identify running VirtualBox daemon or related processes
    Affected if VirtualBox processes are running on a Linux host below version 7.0.16

A Linux host running Oracle VM VirtualBox with a version number lower than 7.0.16 is affected by this privilege escalation vulnerability.

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 7.0.16 or later
Fixed in 7.0.16
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Oracle VM VirtualBox to version 7.0.16 or later on all affected Linux hosts.

Recommended fix High confidence

7.0.16

  1. Check current VirtualBox version: `VBoxManage --version`
  2. Download VirtualBox 7.0.16 from the official Oracle website (https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads)
  3. On Linux host: Stop all running virtual machines and exit VirtualBox
  4. Uninstall the current VirtualBox version using your package manager (e.g., `sudo apt-get remove virtualbox*` or `sudo yum remove VirtualBox`)
  5. Install VirtualBox 7.0.16 using the downloaded package for your Linux distribution
  6. Restart the system if required
  7. Verify the installation: `VBoxManage --version` should show 7.0.16
  8. Ensure the VirtualBox kernel modules are loaded: `sudo modprobe vboxdrv`
Caveat Review VirtualBox 7.0.16 release notes for any configuration or feature changes; backup VM configurations before upgrading

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

Fix this in Vm Virtualbox Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
13.0 hours of engineering $2,280
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-2024-21116 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