CVE-2024-21116 Privilege escalation in VM VirtualBox

High 7.8 Published 16 Apr 2024 Updated 19 Mar 2025

A low-privileged attacker with local access can escalate privileges to take over Oracle VM VirtualBox on Linux hosts.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Any signed-in user
Attackable: Local or same network only
Victim action needed: Not needed
Fix: Available

What is CVE-2024-21116?

CVE-2024-21116 is a high-severity vulnerability in Oracle Vm Virtualbox, published on 16 Apr 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

Official description

Vulnerability in the Oracle VM VirtualBox product of Oracle Virtualization (component: Core). Supported versions that are affected are Prior to 7.0.16. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows low privileged attacker with logon to the infrastructure where Oracle VM VirtualBox executes to compromise Oracle VM VirtualBox. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in takeover of Oracle VM VirtualBox. Note: This vulnerability applies to Linux hosts only. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 7.8 (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

Weakness: CWE-276

Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-21116?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Oracle Vm Virtualbox.

How do I fix CVE-2024-21116?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

Is CVE-2024-21116 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-21116 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Oracle Vm Virtualbox vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as GHSA-h4r9-mgj3-f327, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-21116.