CVE-2026-21985VulnerabilityPublished 20 Jan 2026Updated 23 Jan 2026

CVE-2026-21985: Oracle VM VirtualBox · Easily exploitable vulnerability allows high privileged attacker with logon to the infrastructure

Affects Oracle VM VirtualBoxSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.0 Medium.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

6.0Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 19% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: High
User Interaction: None
Scope: Changed
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: None
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: High: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide significant (e.g., administrative) control over the vulnerable component that could affect component-wide settings and files.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Changed: An exploited vulnerability can affect resources beyond the security scope managed by the security authority of the vulnerable component. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are different and managed by different security authorities.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 20 Jan 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-25.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Oracle CorporationOracle VM VirtualBox	Affected =7.1.14 =7.2.4	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

1. Apply patches or updates from Oracle as soon as they become available for versions 7.1.14 and 7.2.4 of Oracle VM VirtualBox. 2. Restrict and monitor high privilege access on hosts running Oracle VM VirtualBox to minimize the risk of insider threats or lateral movement by attackers. 3. Implement strict access controls and segmentation to isolate VirtualBox hosts from less trusted networks and users. 4. Regularly audit and review user privileges on infrastructure hosting VirtualBox to ensure least privilege principles are enforced. 5. Employ host-based intrusion detection and prevention systems to detect suspicious activities indicative of exploitation attempts. 6. Use virtualization security best practices such as disabling unnecessary features and limiting VM-to-host communication where possible. 7. Maintain comprehensive logging and monitoring of VirtualBox environments to quickly identify and respond to potential compromises. 8. Educate system administrators and security teams about the vulnerability and the importance of securing privileged accounts. 9. Consider alternative virtualization solutions if patching is delayed or if VirtualBox is not critical, to reduce exposure. 10. Coordinate with Oracle support for guidance and early access to patches or mitigations.

Description

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. Easily exploitable 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 unauthorized access to critical data or complete access to all Oracle VM VirtualBox accessible data. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 6.0 (Confidentiality impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N).

Impact

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a significant risk to the confidentiality of virtualized environments, especially those relying on Oracle VM VirtualBox for critical workloads or sensitive data processing. Unauthorized access to VirtualBox data could lead to exposure of intellectual property, customer data, or internal configurations, potentially resulting in compliance violations under GDPR and other data protection regulations. The scope change indicates that the vulnerability could affect additional Oracle products integrated with VirtualBox, amplifying the potential damage. Organizations in sectors such as finance, healthcare, government, and critical infrastructure, which often use virtualization extensively, may face increased risk of data breaches or espionage. The requirement for high privileges limits the attack vector to insiders or attackers who have already compromised the host, but once exploited, the attacker could bypass existing security controls within the virtualized environment. This could undermine trust in virtualization security and disrupt business continuity if sensitive virtual machines are compromised. The absence of known exploits in the wild provides a window for proactive mitigation, but the medium severity score suggests that organizations should not delay remediation efforts.

References

oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujan2026.html (opens in a new tab)

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 28 Jan 2026, 19:56 UTC

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