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Vm VirtualboxApplication · Oracle

CVE-2026-21957

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-01-20
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
77/100
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 7.1.14 and 7.2.4. Difficult to exploit 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 takeover of Oracle VM VirtualBox. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 7.5 (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/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 · moderate confidence

A vulnerability in the Core component of Oracle VM VirtualBox (versions 7.1.14 and 7.2.4) allows a high-privileged attacker with local access to the infrastructure to compromise VirtualBox and potentially gain takeover. The attack requires local access (AV:L) and high privileges (PR:H), with high attack complexity (AC:H), but results in complete confidentiality, integrity, and availability compromise.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied patch or upgrade VirtualBox to a version beyond 7.2.4 that addresses this vulnerability. Since this is a local privilege vulnerability, ensure strict access controls on systems running VirtualBox and limit high-privileged access.

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:= 7.1.14= 7.2.4

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
High
Privileges
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/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. Verify VirtualBox is installed
    Check for VirtualBox installation. On Windows, look for 'Oracle VM VirtualBox' in Programs and Features or check C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\. On Linux, run 'which VBoxManage' or check /usr/bin/VBoxManage.
    Affected if VirtualBox is not installed on the system.
  2. Determine installed VirtualBox version
    Run 'VBoxManage --version' from command line (available in VirtualBox installation directory). On Windows, you may need to navigate to C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox first. Alternatively, open VirtualBox GUI and go to Help > About VirtualBox.
    Affected if Unable to retrieve version information.
  3. Compare version against affected releases
    Compare the retrieved version number to the affected versions 7.1.14 and 7.2.4. Note that only exactly these two versions are vulnerable (version equality is denoted by '=' in the advisory).
    Affected if Installed version is exactly 7.1.14 or exactly 7.2.4.
  4. Assess privilege and access context
    This vulnerability requires a high-privileged attacker (PR:H) with local access (AV:L) to the system. Verify whether the VirtualBox host is exposed to untrusted local users or if high-privilege accounts are broadly accessible.
    Affected if High-privileged accounts have local access to the VirtualBox host system.

A system is affected if VirtualBox version is exactly 7.1.14 or exactly 7.2.4 and an attacker with high privileges and local access can interact with the VirtualBox installation.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the vendor-supplied patch or upgrade VirtualBox to a version beyond 7.2.4 that addresses this vulnerability. Since this is a local privilege vulnerability, ensure strict access controls on systems running VirtualBox and limit high-privileged access.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Latest stable VirtualBox release in the 7.1.x or 7.2.x series (check Oracle for the exact version number containing the fix)

  1. 1. Visit Oracle's official VirtualBox download page or security advisory page to identify the latest available version.
  2. 2. Download the latest stable VirtualBox release (version 7.1.x or 7.2.x series, whichever is most recent).
  3. 3. Before upgrading, ensure all virtual machines are powered off and take a backup of any critical VM configurations if desired.
  4. 4. Uninstall the current VirtualBox version (7.1.14 or 7.2.4) or run the installer to upgrade in place.
  5. 5. Install the new VirtualBox version.
  6. 6. After installation, verify the installed version matches the patched release.
  7. 7. Test that affected VMs start correctly and that the VirtualBox service operates normally.
Caveat Review Oracle's release notes for the new version to check for any breaking changes to VM compatibility, guest additions, or feature changes

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

Fix this in Vm Virtualbox Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,380
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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-2026-21957 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