CVE-2025-30712: Oracle VM VirtualBox Privilege Escalation

CVE-2025-30712 Overview

CVE-2025-30712 concerns a vulnerability in the Oracle VM VirtualBox product, specifically within the Core component. This easily exploitable vulnerability allows a high privileged attacker with logon access to compromise Oracle VM VirtualBox. The impact extends to unauthorized actions such as creation, deletion, or modification of critical data, as well as partial denial of service. With a CVSS 3.1 Base Score of 8.1, it represents a significant risk to confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Critical Impact
Unauthorized access to all Oracle VM VirtualBox accessible data and potential partial denial of service.

Affected Products

Oracle VM VirtualBox 7.1.6

Discovery Timeline

2025-04-15 - CVE-2025-30712 published to NVD
2025-10-28 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-30712

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability involves an integer overflow (CWE-190) that can lead to unauthorized modification of data and partial denial of service. Given its local attack vector, exploitation requires prior access to the system.

Root Cause

The root cause is an integer overflow within the Core component, which, when exploited, can manipulate memory beyond its intended boundaries.

Attack Vector

This vulnerability is locally exploitable and requires the attacker to have authenticated access to the system where VirtualBox is deployed.

// Example exploitation code (sanitized)
int main() {
    int data_size = MAX_INT;
    char *buffer = malloc(data_size + 1); // Potential overflow
    memcpy(buffer, source, data_size + 1); // Vulnerability trigger
    return 0;
}

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-30712

Indicators of Compromise

Unauthorized log entries indicating data creation or deletion
Irregular system performance or partial service outages
Unexpected changes in VM configurations

Detection Strategies

Monitor system logs for unusual activities involving high privileged accounts, and inspect memory access patterns for irregularities. Employ heuristic-based detection to flag attempts of extreme buffer allocations.

Monitoring Recommendations

Continuous monitoring with anomaly detection systems is advised. Utilize network-based intrusion detection systems to identify suspect activities and privilege escalations.

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-30712

Immediate Actions Required

Update to the latest VirtualBox patch provided by Oracle.
Restrict administrative access to VirtualBox installations.
Implement strict access controls and audit trails.

Patch Information

Details of patches are available on Oracle's April 2025 Critical Patch Update.

Workarounds

Until patches are applied, consider restricting the execution environment of VirtualBox to trusted users only and isolate the VM network where applicable.

bash

# Configuration example
iptables -A INPUT -s <trusted_ip> -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -d <vm_network> -j DROP