CVE-2020-14886

Vulnerability

A out-of-bounds read vulnerability exists in Oracle VM VirtualBox versions prior to 6.1.16. The flaw is located in the shader_skip_unrecognized function within the Core component. Insufficient validation of user-supplied data allows reading past the end of an allocated buffer, leading to information disclosure. The vulnerability is present when shader bytecode processing is active in a guest VM and requires high privileges within the guest to be exploitable. [1]

Exploitation

An attacker must first obtain the ability to execute high-privileged code (e.g., as root or a privileged user) on the guest operating system. From that position, the attacker can trigger the out-of-bounds read by providing crafted shader bytecode. The vulnerability is locally exploitable from the guest, with low attack complexity, and no user interaction is required beyond the attacker's own actions. [1]

Impact

Successful exploitation results in unauthorized read access to critical data within the Oracle VM VirtualBox hypervisor. This is an information disclosure vulnerability with high confidentiality impact. While the attack originates from the guest, the impact extends to additional products (scope change), meaning the attacker can obtain sensitive host or hypervisor memory. [1] [2]

Mitigation

The vulnerability was fixed in Oracle VM VirtualBox version 6.1.16. Users should upgrade to version 6.1.16 or later. For Gentoo-based systems, the patched version is 6.1.18 as noted in the Gentoo security advisory. No known workarounds exist. The vulnerability is not listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog as of the publication date. [1] [2]