CVE-2026-21989
Privilege escalation in Oracle VM VirtualBox 7.x enabling data access/modification.
Is CVE-2026-21989 being exploited?
Not confirmed. CVE-2026-21989 does not appear in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which records only exploitation that has been observed and reported publicly. That is evidence of absence of a report, not evidence the flaw is unattacked. EPSS currently estimates a 0.20% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How severe is CVE-2026-21989?
CVE-2026-21989 is rated High with a CVSS score of 8.1. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.
Is there a patch for CVE-2026-21989?
Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2026-21989. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.
What does CVE-2026-21989 affect?
CVE-2026-21989 affects Oracle VM VirtualBox 7.1.14, Oracle VM VirtualBox 7.2.4. Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.
What should I do about CVE-2026-21989?
Patch to fixed version when released
Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.
Local attacker with logon can access/modify all VirtualBox data and cause partial DOS.
Immediate action required
- affected7.1.14
- affected7.2.4
As published in the CVE Program record. A version outside these ranges is not a statement that it is unaffected — vendors sometimes understate a range, and distribution-backported builds carry upstream numbers that do not reflect what was patched into them.