CVE-2021-35542

Vulnerability in the Oracle VM VirtualBox product of Oracle Virtualization (component: Core). The...

4.4 Medium

Vulnerability in the Oracle VM VirtualBox product of Oracle Virtualization (component: Core). The supported version that is affected is Prior to 6.1.28. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows high privileged attacker with logon to the infrastructure where Oracle VM VirtualBox executes to compromise Oracle VM VirtualBox. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized ability to cause a hang or frequently repeatable crash (complete DOS) of Oracle VM VirtualBox. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 4.4 (Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).

Attack profile

How easy it is to exploit

Attack vector: Local
Complexity: Low
Privileges needed: High
User interaction: None

What an attacker can affect

Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
Availability: High

Exploit likelihood

0.40%Unchanged since Oct 21, 2021

What each source reports

CVE List Score used 4.4

Record: CVE-2021-35542
CVSS 3.1: 4.4 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated: 2026-11-02

EUVDEUVD-2021-22178 4.4

Record: EUVD-2021-22178
CVSS 3.1: 4.4 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated: 2026-11-03

GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-7x75-rh6x-x3g8 4.4

Vulnerability in the Oracle VM VirtualBox product of Oracle Virtualization (component: Core). The...

Record: GHSA-7x75-rh6x-x3g8
CVSS 3.1: 4.4 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated: 2026-11-02

NVD 4.4

Record: CVE-2021-35542
CVSS 3.1: 4.4 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CVSS 2.0: 4.9 MediumAV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C
Updated: 2026-11-02

OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2021-35542 4.4

Record: UBUNTU-CVE-2021-35542
CVSS 3.1: 4.4 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated: 2026-11-02

OSVMGASA-2021-0488 No score

Updated virtualbox packages fix security vulnerabilities

This update provides the upstream 6.1.28 maintenance release that fixes at least the following security vulnerabilities:

Vulnerability in the Oracle VM VirtualBox prior to 6.1.28 contains an easily exploitable vulnerability that allows high privileged attacker with logon to the infrastructure where Oracle VM VirtualBox executes to compromise Oracle VM VirtualBox. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized ability to cause a hang or frequently repeatable crash (complete DOS) of Oracle VM VirtualBox (CVE-2021-2475, CVE-2021-35542).

Vulnerability in the Oracle VM VirtualBox prior to 6.1.28 contains an easily exploitable vulnerability that allows low privileged attacker with logon to the infrastructure where Oracle VM VirtualBox executes to compromise Oracle VM VirtualBox. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in takeover of Oracle VM VirtualBox (CVE-2021-35538).

Vulnerability in the Oracle VM VirtualBox prior to 6.1.28 contains an easily exploitable vulnerability that 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. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized ability to cause a hang or frequently repeatable crash (complete DOS) of Oracle VM VirtualBox and unauthorized read access to a subset of Oracle VM VirtualBox accessible data (CVE-2021-35545).

For other upstream fixes in this update, see the referenced changelog.

Record: MGASA-2021-0488
Updated: 2026-11-02

OSVopenSUSE-SU-2021:1393-1 No score

Security update for virtualbox

This update for virtualbox fixes the following issues:

Version bump to 6.1.28 (released October 19 2021 by Oracle)

This is a maintenance release. The following items were fixed and/or added:

VMM: Fixed guru meditation while booting nested-guests accessing debug registers under certain conditions
UI: Bug fixes for touchpad-based scrolling
VMSVGA: Fixed VM black screen issue on first resize after restoring from saved state (bug #20067)
VMSVGA: Fixed display corruption on Linux Mint (bug #20513)
Storage: Fixed a possible write error under certain circumstances when using VHD images (bug #20512)
Network: Multiple updates in virtio-net device support
Network: Disconnecting cable in saved VM state now is handled properly by virtio-net
Network: More administrative control over network ranges, see user manual
NAT: Fixed not rejecting TFTP requests with absolute pathnames (bug #20589)
Audio: Fixed VM session aborting after PC hibernation (bug #20516)
Audio: Fixed setting the line-in volume of the HDA emulation on modern Linux guests
Audio: Fixed resuming playback of the AC'97 emulation while a snapshot has been taken
API: Added bindings support for Python 3.9 (bug #20252)
API: Fixed rare hang of VM when changing settings at runtime
Linux host: Improved kernel modules installation detection which prevents unnecessary modules rebuild
Host Services: Shared Clipboard: Prevent guest clipboard reset when clipboard sharing is disabled (bug #20487)
Host Services: Shared Clipboard over VRDP: Fixed to continue working when guest service reconnects to host (bug #20366)
Host Services: Shared Clipboard over VRDP: Fixed preventing remote RDP client to hang when guest has no clipboard data to report
Linux Host and Guest: Introduced initial support for kernels 5.14 and 5.15
Linux Host and Guest: Introduced initial support for RHEL 8.5 kernel
Windows Guest: Introduced Windows 11 guest support, including unattended installation
Fixes CVE-2021-35538, CVE-2021-35545, CVE-2021-35540, CVE-2021-35542, and CVE-2021-2475 (boo#1191869)
Use kernel_module_directory macro for kernel modules (boo#1191526)
Finish UsrMerge for VirtualBox components (boo#1191104).

Record: openSUSE-SU-2021:1393-1
Updated: 2026-11-02

OSVopenSUSE-SU-2021:1403-1 No score

Security update for virtualbox

This update for virtualbox fixes the following issues:

Version bump to 6.1.28 (released October 19 2021 by Oracle)

This is a maintenance release. The following items were fixed and/or added:

VMM: Fixed guru meditation while booting nested-guests accessing debug registers under certain conditions
UI: Bug fixes for touchpad-based scrolling
VMSVGA: Fixed VM black screen issue on first resize after restoring from saved state (bug #20067)
VMSVGA: Fixed display corruption on Linux Mint (bug #20513)
Storage: Fixed a possible write error under certain circumstances when using VHD images (bug #20512)
Network: Multiple updates in virtio-net device support
Network: Disconnecting cable in saved VM state now is handled properly by virtio-net
Network: More administrative control over network ranges, see user manual
NAT: Fixed not rejecting TFTP requests with absolute pathnames (bug #20589)
Audio: Fixed VM session aborting after PC hibernation (bug #20516)
Audio: Fixed setting the line-in volume of the HDA emulation on modern Linux guests
Audio: Fixed resuming playback of the AC'97 emulation while a snapshot has been taken
API: Added bindings support for Python 3.9 (bug #20252)
API: Fixed rare hang of VM when changing settings at runtime
Linux host: Improved kernel modules installation detection which prevents unnecessary modules rebuild
Host Services: Shared Clipboard: Prevent guest clipboard reset when clipboard sharing is disabled (bug #20487)
Host Services: Shared Clipboard over VRDP: Fixed to continue working when guest service reconnects to host (bug #20366)
Host Services: Shared Clipboard over VRDP: Fixed preventing remote RDP client to hang when guest has no clipboard data to report
Linux Host and Guest: Introduced initial support for kernels 5.14 and 5.15
Linux Host and Guest: Introduced initial support for RHEL 8.5 kernel
Windows Guest: Introduced Windows 11 guest support, including unattended installation
Fixes CVE-2021-35538, CVE-2021-35545, CVE-2021-35540, CVE-2021-35542, and CVE-2021-2475 (boo#1191869)
Use kernel_module_directory macro for kernel modules (boo#1191526)
Finish UsrMerge for VirtualBox components (boo#1191104).

Record: openSUSE-SU-2021:1403-1
Updated: 2026-11-02

Affected products

Affected packages

Affected packages
Package	Affected	Fixed
`virtualbox` Mageia:8 From an advisory covering 5 CVEs	before 6.1.28-1.mga8	6.1.28-1.mga8
`kmod-virtualbox` Mageia:8 From an advisory covering 5 CVEs	before 6.1.28-1.mga8	6.1.28-1.mga8
`virtualbox` Ubuntu:16.04:LTS	All versions, plus listed versions 5.0.4-dfsg-25.0.8-dfsg-15.0.10-dfsg-15.0.10-dfsg-25.0.10-dfsg-3 Show 25 moreShow less 5.0.10-dfsg-45.0.10-dfsg-55.0.10-dfsg-65.0.10-dfsg-75.0.12-dfsg-15.0.12-dfsg-25.0.14-dfsg-15.0.14-dfsg-25.0.14-dfsg-2build15.0.16-dfsg-25.0.16-dfsg-35.0.18-dfsg-15.0.18-dfsg-1ubuntu15.0.18-dfsg-25.0.18-dfsg-2build15.0.18-dfsg-2ubuntu15.0.24-dfsg-0ubuntu1.16.04.15.0.32-dfsg-0ubuntu1.16.04.25.0.36-dfsg-0ubuntu1.16.04.25.0.40-dfsg-0ubuntu1.16.04.15.0.40-dfsg-0ubuntu1.16.04.25.1.34-dfsg-0ubuntu1.16.04.25.1.38-dfsg-0ubuntu1.16.04.15.1.38-dfsg-0ubuntu1.16.04.25.1.38-dfsg-0ubuntu1.16.04.3	None known
`virtualbox` Ubuntu:18.04:LTS	All versions, plus listed versions 5.1.30-dfsg-15.2.0-dfsg-1build25.2.0-dfsg-25.2.0-dfsg-45.2.0-dfsg-5 Show 26 moreShow less 5.2.2-dfsg-25.2.2-dfsg-3~build15.2.2-dfsg-35.2.4-dfsg-15.2.4-dfsg-25.2.6-dfsg-15.2.6-dfsg-25.2.6-dfsg-35.2.6-dfsg-3build15.2.6-dfsg-55.2.8-dfsg-25.2.8-dfsg-35.2.8-dfsg-55.2.8-dfsg-65.2.8-dfsg-75.2.10-dfsg-15.2.10-dfsg-25.2.10-dfsg-55.2.10-dfsg-65.2.10-dfsg-6ubuntu18.04.15.2.18-dfsg-2~ubuntu18.04.15.2.18-dfsg-2~ubuntu18.04.35.2.18-dfsg-2~ubuntu18.04.55.2.32-dfsg-0~ubuntu18.04.15.2.34-dfsg-0~ubuntu18.04.15.2.42-dfsg-0~ubuntu1.18.04.1	None known
`virtualbox` Ubuntu:20.04:LTS	All versions, plus listed versions 6.0.14-dfsg-16.0.14-dfsg-2~build16.0.14-dfsg-26.1.0-dfsg-3build16.1.0-dfsg-3build2 Show 18 moreShow less 6.1.2-dfsg-16.1.2-dfsg-1build16.1.4-dfsg-16.1.4-dfsg-2~build16.1.4-dfsg-26.1.4-dfsg-46.1.6-dfsg-16.1.10-dfsg-1~ubuntu1.20.04.16.1.16-dfsg-6~ubuntu1.20.04.16.1.16-dfsg-6~ubuntu1.20.04.26.1.22-dfsg-2~ubuntu1.20.04.16.1.26-dfsg-3~ubuntu1.20.04.16.1.26-dfsg-3~ubuntu1.20.04.26.1.32-dfsg-1~ubuntu1.20.04.16.1.34-dfsg-3~ubuntu1.20.04.16.1.38-dfsg-3~ubuntu1.20.04.16.1.48-dfsg-1~ubuntu1.20.04.16.1.50-dfsg-1~ubuntu1.20.04.1	None known
`virtualbox` Ubuntu:22.04:LTS	All versions, plus listed versions 6.1.26-dfsg-46.1.28-dfsg-16.1.30-dfsg-16.1.32-dfsg-16.1.32-dfsg-1build1 Show 5 moreShow less 6.1.34-dfsg-3~ubuntu1.22.04.16.1.38-dfsg-3~ubuntu1.22.04.16.1.48-dfsg-1~ubuntu1.22.04.16.1.50-dfsg-1~ubuntu1.22.04.16.1.50-dfsg-1~ubuntu1.22.04.3	None known
`virtualbox` openSUSE:Leap 15.3 From an advisory covering 5 CVEs	before 6.1.28-lp153.2.12.1	6.1.28-lp153.2.12.1
`virtualbox-kmp` openSUSE:Leap 15.3 From an advisory covering 5 CVEs	before 6.1.28-lp153.2.12.1	6.1.28-lp153.2.12.1
`virtualbox` openSUSE:Leap 15.2 From an advisory covering 5 CVEs	before 6.1.28-lp152.2.38.1	6.1.28-lp152.2.38.1
`virtualbox-kmp` openSUSE:Leap 15.2 From an advisory covering 5 CVEs	before 6.1.28-lp152.2.38.1	6.1.28-lp152.2.38.1

History

History
Recorded	Changed	Sources
Nov 6, 2026	affected, facts
Nov 3, 2026	aliases	EUVD
Nov 2, 2026	first indexed	CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV

Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.

In short

CVE-2021-35542 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 4.4) in Oracle Vm Virtualbox, published October 20, 2021. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.40%, the 34th percentile. No source names a fixed version.

References

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