CVE-2023-21998

Privileged cross-boundary data read and modification

Published Apr 18, 2023 · Updated Sep 13, 2024

Oracle VM VirtualBox 6.1 before 6.1.44 and 7.0 before 7.0.8 allows local users to read and modify protected data. Oracle identifies the affected component only as Core and has not published the flawed operation or the untrusted input that reaches it. Exploitation requires high privileges on the VirtualBox host and a Windows VM; successful attacks cross a trust boundary but are limited to reading a subset of accessible data and changing some accessible data.

CVSS severity4.6
Medium
EPSS probability0.31%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Oracle VM VirtualBox 6.1 before 6.1.44 and 7.0 before 7.0.8 allows local users to read and modify protected data. Oracle identifies the affected component only as Core and has not published the flawed operation or the untrusted input that reaches it. Exploitation requires high privileges on the VirtualBox host and a Windows VM; successful attacks cross a trust boundary but are limited to reading a subset of accessible data and changing some accessible data.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-21998
Published
Apr 18, 2023
Updated
Sep 13, 2024
Vendor
Oracle Corporation
Product
Oracle VM VirtualBox
Classifications
Unavailable
Attack vector
local
Privileges
admin

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Apr 18, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 13, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=* <6.1.44
  2. Affected versionversion=* <7.0.8

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesadmin

What is affected?

Oracle Corporation · Oracle VM VirtualBoxversion=* <6.1.44; version=* <7.0.8

Published CVSS scores

4.6Oracle CorporationCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesadmin
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

No sourced classifications are available.

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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