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Oracle VirtualBox SVGA Flaws Let Privileged Windows Guests Trigger Host Out-of-Bounds Reads

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Updated April 11, 2026 at 05:23 PM2 sources
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Oracle VirtualBox SVGA Flaws Let Privileged Windows Guests Trigger Host Out-of-Bounds Reads

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Oracle patched two VirtualBox vulnerabilities in its SVGA graphics stack that could let a privileged attacker inside a Windows guest trigger out-of-bounds reads on the host. CVE-2020-2748 affects VirtualBox 6.1.0 r135406 in the VMSVGA/VBoxSVGA video adapter path, where guest-controlled cursor update data can supply an unchecked screen identifier that is later used in Display::i_displayVBVAReportCursorPosition, causing an out-of-bounds access to maFramebuffers[aScreenId]. STAR Labs said the flaw was disclosed through ZDI and Oracle addressed it in its April 2020 security advisory.

A separate bug, CVE-2019-3026, affects VirtualBox 6.0.4 r128413 and stems from improper validation of SVGA 3D commands in vmsvgaFIFOLoop. STAR Labs reported that a size-check macro failed to exit the intended switch block, allowing malformed command headers to bypass validation and trigger an integer underflow followed by an out-of-bounds read in vmsvga3dShaderSetConst(). Exploitation requires the attacker to already have high privileges in the guest, and for the VM to have 3D acceleration enabled; Oracle fixed the issue in its October 2019 Critical Patch Update.

Timeline

  1. Apr 30, 2020

    STAR Labs publicly discloses CVE-2020-2748 details

    STAR Labs publicly disclosed technical details for CVE-2020-2748, describing how a privileged guest could manipulate SVGA FIFO cursor update fields to cause an out-of-bounds read in VirtualBox. The disclosure coincided with the vendor patch being available.

  2. Apr 30, 2020

    Oracle acknowledges and patches CVE-2020-2748

    Oracle acknowledged CVE-2020-2748 and released a patch in its April 2020 security advisory. The issue affected the VMSVGA/VBoxSVGA video adapter path used by Windows guests and could trigger out-of-bounds access from a privileged guest.

  3. Mar 3, 2020

    CVE-2020-2748 disclosed to Oracle through ZDI

    A VirtualBox SVGA out-of-bounds read vulnerability, later tracked as CVE-2020-2748, was disclosed to Oracle through ZDI. The flaw affected VirtualBox 6.1.0 r135406 and stemmed from improper bounds checking of a guest-controlled screen identifier in cursor update handling.

  4. Oct 20, 2019

    Oracle patches CVE-2019-3026 in October 2019 CPU

    Oracle patched CVE-2019-3026 and published an advisory as part of its October 2019 Critical Patch Update. The vulnerability required high-privileged code execution in the guest and 3D acceleration to be enabled.

  5. Aug 13, 2019

    STAR Labs reports CVE-2019-3026 to Oracle

    STAR Labs reported an Oracle VirtualBox VBoxSVGA validation flaw, later assigned CVE-2019-3026, to Oracle. The bug affected VirtualBox 6.0.4 r128413 on Windows guests and could lead to an integer underflow and out-of-bounds read when processing malformed SVGA 3D commands.

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