Cross-scope data compromise via undisclosed Core flaw
Published Jan 20, 2026 · Updated Jan 20, 2026
Local privilege abuse in Oracle VM VirtualBox 7.1.14 and 7.2.4 allows local users with high privileges to compromise the Core component. Oracle has not published the flawed Core operation or the input that reaches it, so the concrete mechanism remains undisclosed. Exploitation requires high-privileged host logon and permits complete disclosure or modification of accessible data plus partial service interruption across a changed scope.
Summary
What happened
Local privilege abuse in Oracle VM VirtualBox 7.1.14 and 7.2.4 allows local users with high privileges to compromise the Core component. Oracle has not published the flawed Core operation or the input that reaches it, so the concrete mechanism remains undisclosed. Exploitation requires high-privileged host logon and permits complete disclosure or modification of accessible data plus partial service interruption across a changed scope.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-21989
- 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
- Jan 20, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jan 20, 2026Record 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.
- Affected versionversion=7.1.14
- Affected versionversion=7.2.4
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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.
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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