LiveActive security incident?Get immediate response
CVE Record

CVE-2021-2279: Vulnerability in the Oracle VM VirtualBox product of Oracle Virtualization (component: Core).

Vulnerability in the Oracle VM VirtualBox product of Oracle Virtualization (component: Core). The supported version that is affected is Prior to 6.1.20. Difficult to exploit vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via RDP to compromise Oracle VM VirtualBox. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in takeover of Oracle VM VirtualBox. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 8.1 (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

HighCVSS 8.1Not KEV-listedUpdated
Discuss exposureBack to CVEs
Glexia's TakeAutomated analysishigh

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

CVE-2021-2279 is a high-severity Oracle VM VirtualBox flaw affecting versions before 6.1.20. An unauthenticated attacker with network access through RDP could compromise VirtualBox, with potential confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact. Oracle describes exploitation as difficult, but successful exploitation can lead to takeover of VirtualBox.

Executive priority

Treat this as a high-priority patching and exposure-reduction item for systems running VirtualBox with RDP reachable. Urgency is lower than confirmed exploited issues, but the impact is full compromise of VirtualBox if successfully exploited.

Technical view

The vulnerability is in Oracle VM VirtualBox Core. The CVSS 3.1 vector is AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H, scoring 8.1. Affected supported versions are prior to 6.1.20. The source bundle does not provide a CWE, root-cause detail, or exploit procedure.

Likely exposure

Exposure is most relevant where Oracle VM VirtualBox versions before 6.1.20 are installed and RDP access to VirtualBox is reachable from untrusted networks.

Exploitation context

The provided sources do not show KEV listing or active exploitation evidence. Oracle’s description says the issue is difficult to exploit, requires no authentication or user interaction, and is reachable over the network via RDP.

Researcher notes

Focus assessment on version validation and RDP reachability. The public bundle supports network, unauthenticated, no-user-interaction exposure with high complexity, but does not include root-cause specifics, CWE mapping, exploit availability, or detailed vulnerable code paths.

Mitigation direction

  • Upgrade Oracle VM VirtualBox to 6.1.20 or later, following Oracle guidance.
  • Apply relevant distribution updates, including Gentoo GLSA-202208-36 where applicable.
  • Disable VirtualBox RDP access if it is not required.
  • Restrict VirtualBox RDP exposure to trusted administrative networks.
  • Track Oracle CPU guidance for any environment-specific remediation notes.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory hosts running Oracle VM VirtualBox.
  • Confirm installed VirtualBox versions are not earlier than 6.1.20.
  • Identify whether VirtualBox RDP is enabled and network-reachable.
  • Review firewall and access-control paths to VirtualBox RDP services.
  • Verify applicable Oracle or distribution updates are installed.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
5

Public sources used

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context

These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.

ATT&CK lookup starting points

Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.

cve · low confidence lookup

CVE-2021-2279 mapping review

Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.

Open ATT&CK lookup
Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
High
CVSS
8.1 (3.1)
Known Exploited
No
Published

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

Official CVE source material

CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5

These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.

1CVSS vectors
0Timeline events
0ADP providers
4Source links

CVSS vector scores

1 official score

We collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.

ScoreVersionSeverityVectorExploitImpactSource
8.1CVSS 3.1HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H2.25.9Primary CVE score

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.1 score

8.1High
CVSS 3.1 vector shape for CVE-2021-2279Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

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

Attack Vector
NetworkAdjacentLocalPhysical
Attack Complexity
LowHigh
Privileges Required
NoneLowHigh
User Interaction
NoneRequired
Scope
ChangedUnchanged
Confidentiality Impact
HighLowNone
Integrity Impact
HighLowNone
Availability Impact
HighLowNone

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
Oracle CorporationVM VirtualBoxunspecifiedListed
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.