Oracle VirtualBox 7.1.14/7.2.4 Core PrivEsc Vulnerability (CVE-2026-21981)
CVE-2026-21981 Published on January 20, 2026
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 read access to a subset of Oracle VM VirtualBox accessible data and unauthorized ability to cause a partial denial of service (partial DOS) of Oracle VM VirtualBox. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 4.6 (Confidentiality and Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:N/A:L).
Vulnerability Analysis
CVE-2026-21981 can be exploited with local system access, and requires user privileges. This vulnerability is considered to have a low attack complexity. The potential impact of an exploit of this vulnerability is considered to have a small impact on confidentiality, a small impact on integrity, and a small impact on availability.
Weakness Type
Improper Privilege Management
The software does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor.
Products Associated with CVE-2026-21981
stack.watch emails you whenever new vulnerabilities are published in Oracle or Oracle VM VirtualBox. Just hit a watch button to start following.
Affected Versions
Oracle Corporation Oracle VM VirtualBox:- Version 7.1.14 is affected.
- Version 7.2.4 is affected.
Exploit Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) scores estimate the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. The percentile shows you how this score compares to all other vulnerabilities.