CVE-2025-21571
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). Supported versions that are affected are Prior to 7.0.24 and prior to 7.1.6. 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 (scope change). Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized creation, deletion or modification access to critical data or all Oracle VM VirtualBox accessible data as well as unauthorized read access to a subset of Oracle VM VirtualBox accessible data and unauthorized ability to cause a partial denial of service (partial DOS) of Oracle VM VirtualBox. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 7.3 (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:H/A:L).
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 vulnerability in the Core component of Oracle VM VirtualBox allows a high-privileged attacker with local logon access to compromise the virtualization platform. The flaw enables unauthorized creation, deletion, modification, and read access to VirtualBox data, plus partial denial of service. The scope change indicates the attack can 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>= 7.0.0, < 7.0.24>= 7.1.0, < 7.1.6CVSS 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
- Low
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:H/A:L
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 installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox) or look for VirtualBox entries in Add/Remove Programs. On Linux: Run 'dpkg -l | grep virtualbox' or 'rpm -qa | grep virtualbox'. On macOS: Check /Applications for VirtualBox.app.Affected if VirtualBox is not present on the system - no further action needed.
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Determine the installed VirtualBox versionRun 'VBoxManage --version' from command line. On Windows this works from Command Prompt or PowerShell. On Linux it requires virtualbox virtualization package to be installed.Affected if The command fails or VirtualBox is not found - not affected.
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Compare installed version against affected rangesParse the version number from step 2. The affected versions are: 7.0.0 through 7.0.23 (inclusive), and 7.1.0 through 7.1.5 (inclusive). Versions below 7.0.0, exactly 7.0.24 or later, or exactly 7.1.6 or later are NOT affected.Affected if Installed version is 7.0.0-7.0.23 or 7.1.0-7.1.5.
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Verify the VirtualBox service is running (required for exploitation)On Windows: Open Services (services.msc) and check for 'Oracle VM VirtualBox' service status, or run 'sc query vboxsvc'. On Linux: Run 'systemctl status virtualbox' or check for vbox* processes with 'ps aux | grep vbox'.Affected if VirtualBox service/process is not running - the specific exploitation vector is not active, though the vulnerable software is still present.
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Confirm high-privileged local access requirementReview local user accounts and privilege levels on the system. This vulnerability requires a high-privileged attacker with local logon access. Check if untrusted users have administrative or root-level access to this machine.Affected if Untrusted or low-privilege users have local shell access to this system - they could potentially escalate to exploit this vulnerability.
A system is affected if VirtualBox version 7.0.0-7.0.23 or 7.1.0-7.1.5 is installed AND the VirtualBox service is running AND an untrusted user could obtain high-privilege local access.
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.
dbcve · scoped7.0.247.1.6
Upgrade Oracle VM VirtualBox to version 7.0.24 or later (for the 7.0.x branch) or version 7.1.6 or later (for the 7.1.x branch) to remediate this vulnerability.
Upgrade to VirtualBox 7.0.24 or 7.1.6 (or later stable release)
- 1. Back up all critical virtual machines and configuration data before upgrading
- 2. Download the fixed VirtualBox version (7.0.24 or 7.1.6 or later) from the official Oracle website
- 3. Stop any running virtual machines and exit VirtualBox completely
- 4. Install the updated VirtualBox version using the downloaded installer
- 5. After installation, verify the version by checking Help > About VirtualBox to confirm the fix is applied
- 6. Test that existing virtual machines function normally after the upgrade
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 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 $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-21571 — 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-2025-21571 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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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.
- 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