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Vm VirtualboxApplication · Oracle

CVE-2026-21983

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

This is a vulnerability in the Core component of Oracle VM VirtualBox affecting versions 7.1.14 and 7.2.4. It allows a high-privileged attacker with local infrastructure access to compromise VirtualBox and potentially escape to the host system, achieving complete confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact. The scope change indicates attacks may impact additional products beyond VirtualBox itself.

MitigationUpdate VirtualBox to the vendor's patched version and restrict physical/logical access to the virtualization infrastructure to only highly trusted administrators.

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. Check if VirtualBox is installed
    On Windows: Check for VirtualBox installation in Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox or via 'vboxmanage --version' command. On Linux: Check for /usr/lib/virtualbox or run 'vboxmanage --version'. On macOS: Check /Applications folder or run 'vboxmanage --version'.
    Affected if VirtualBox is not installed - not affected.
  2. Determine installed VirtualBox version
    Run 'vboxmanage --version' from command line. This displays the exact version number in format like 7.1.14 or 7.2.4.
    Affected if Version is exactly 7.1.14 or exactly 7.2.4 - affected.
  3. Confirm version via installed package or registry
    Windows: Check registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Oracle\VirtualBox\Version. Linux: Check package version with 'dpkg -l virtualbox' or 'rpm -qa virtualbox'. macOS: Check Info.plist inside VirtualBox.app bundle.
    Affected if Listed version matches 7.1.14 or 7.2.4 - affected.
  4. Identify if high-privileged local access exists
    Review who has administrative or root-level access to the VirtualBox host machine. Check local user group memberships, sudoers file, or Windows Administrator group membership for VirtualBox host.
    Affected if Untrusted or low-privilege users have high-privileged access to the VirtualBox host - at higher risk.

You are affected if VirtualBox is installed and the exact installed version is either 7.1.14 or 7.2.4.

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

Update VirtualBox to the vendor's patched version and restrict physical/logical access to the virtualization infrastructure to only highly trusted administrators.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

VirtualBox 7.1.16 (latest 7.1.x stable) or VirtualBox 7.2.6 (latest 7.2.x stable) - check Oracle for latest patches

  1. 1. Identify the current VirtualBox installation version by checking Help > About VirtualBox
  2. 2. Download the latest VirtualBox version from the official Oracle website (https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads)
  3. 3. Ensure all running virtual machines are powered off before upgrading
  4. 4. Uninstall the current VirtualBox version completely
  5. 5. Install the latest VirtualBox version (7.1.x or 7.2.x stable release)
  6. 6. After installation, verify the new version by checking Help > About VirtualBox
Caveat VirtualBox upgrades may require recreating or upgrading existing VM configurations; backup VM images before upgrading; Extension Pack must match VirtualBox version

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

Fix this in Vm Virtualbox Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,420
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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-2026-21983 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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