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ExploitedIn CISA KEVFix available

CVE-2008-3431

Exploitation confirmed. First attested on 2022-03-03 by CISA-ADP, CISA KEV, GCVE · kevintel.

  • Published2008-08-05
  • Fixed in1.6.4

Am I affected?

With a domain, we read the version its public headers and pages expose. A distribution build can carry the fix under an older number.

Description

The VBoxDrvNtDeviceControl function in VBoxDrv.sys in Sun xVM VirtualBox before 1.6.4 uses the METHOD_NEITHER communication method for IOCTLs and does not properly validate a buffer associated with the Irp object, which allows local users to gain privileges by opening the \\.\VBoxDrv device and calling DeviceIoControl to send a crafted kernel address.

Timeline

dates in UTC
  1. 2008-08-0519:41CVE publishedNVD
  2. 2022-03-03Added to the CISA KEV catalogCISA KEV
  3. 2022-03-03Listed as exploited by GCVEGCVE
  4. 2022-03-03Exploitation first reportedCISA KEV
  5. 2025-02-1019:26SSVC exploitation set to activeCISA-ADP

Observed activity

isMalicious corpus · updated 2026-10-23 18:48 UTC
Indicators tagged with this CVE, per day0 indicators over 7 days
Block these indicators
  • Firewall list (EDL, text): https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2008-3431?format=txt
  • CSV export: https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2008-3431?format=csv
  • TAXII collection of exploited CVEs
  • The EDL and CSV take an API key on the Pro plan.

Versions per branch

NVD
Oracle virtualbox
BranchAffectedFixed in
1.6< 1.6.41.6.4

as publishedRanges as NVD and OSV publish them; a distribution’s build can be fixed under an older number.

Fix

  1. Update Oracle virtualbox to 1.6.4
  2. CISA’s required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.due 2022-03-24

Advisories and patches

Detection

read 2026-10-23 19:23 UTC
Nuclei template
none so far
ProjectDiscovery
Exploit-DB
EDB-6218
Exploit-DB
Proof-of-concept repositories
none listed
PoC-in-GitHub

CISA Known Exploited Vulnerability

Date Added
2022-03-03
Patch Due Date
2022-03-24
Ransomware Use
Unknown
Required Action
Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Sources

Technical details

CVSS v3 Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Published
2008-08-05
Last Modified
2026-06-16
NVD status
Analyzed

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2008-3431?

The VBoxDrvNtDeviceControl function in VBoxDrv.sys in Sun xVM VirtualBox before 1.6.4 uses the METHOD_NEITHER communication method for IOCTLs and does not properly validate a buffer associated with the Irp object, which allows local users to gain privileges by opening the \\.\VBoxDrv device and calling DeviceIoControl to send a crafted kernel address.

Is CVE-2008-3431 actively exploited?

Yes. CVE-2008-3431 is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, meaning it has been confirmed as actively exploited in the wild. CISA requires federal agencies to patch by 2022-03-24.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2008-3431?

CVE-2008-3431 has a CVSS v3 base score of 8.8 (HIGH severity), with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H.

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