CVE-2026-21988

High-privilege local hypervisor takeover

Published Jan 20, 2026 · Updated Jan 20, 2026

Core vulnerability in Oracle VM VirtualBox 7.1.14 and 7.2.4 allows local users with high privileges to take over the hypervisor. Oracle has not disclosed the affected Core code path or the unsafe operation that permits compromise. Exploitation requires a high-privilege logon to the host infrastructure and grants control affecting confidentiality, integrity, and availability beyond the vulnerable scope.

CVSS severity8.2
High
EPSS probability0.20%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
Coverage for this vulnerability

See if you're affected

Explore vulnerability checks for your environment with Hinoki.

Book a demo

Summary

What happened

Core vulnerability in Oracle VM VirtualBox 7.1.14 and 7.2.4 allows local users with high privileges to take over the hypervisor. Oracle has not disclosed the affected Core code path or the unsafe operation that permits compromise. Exploitation requires a high-privilege logon to the host infrastructure and grants control affecting confidentiality, integrity, and availability beyond the vulnerable scope.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-21988
Published
Jan 20, 2026
Updated
Jan 20, 2026
Vendor
Oracle
Product
Oracle VM VirtualBox
Classifications
Unavailable
Attack vector
local
Privileges
admin

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jan 20, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Jan 20, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

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

  1. Affected versionversion=7.1.14
  2. Affected versionversion=7.2.4

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesadmin

What is affected?

Oracle · Oracle VM VirtualBoxversion=7.1.14; version=7.2.4

Published CVSS scores

8.2OracleCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

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

See the directory against your own environment.

Your stack

Check the software in your environment

Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.

Book a demo