CVE-2021-25319 | virtualbox: missing sticky bit for /etc/vbox allows local root exploit for members of vboxusers group

A Incorrect Default Permissions vulnerability in the packaging of virtualbox of openSUSE Factory allows local attackers in the vboxusers groupu to escalate to root. This issue affects: openSUSE Factory virtualbox version 6.1.20-1.1 and prior versions.

Published: 2021-05-05 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2021-25319 is rated Low Risk (37.3/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.26%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2021-25319

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.02% 0.26% +0.23%
2 2026-01-05 0.09% 0.02% -0.06%
3 2025-11-21 0.09%

Full EPSS history (10 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-25319

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
1.8 5.9 [email protected]
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
1.8 5.9 [email protected]
7.2 2.0 HIGH
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:C)
Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C)
Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
3.9 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-25319

OS Trackers for CVE-2021-25319

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2021-25319 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (virtualbox), 1 status rows across 1 suites (sid): resolved 1. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2021-25319
ubuntu medium CVE-2021-25319 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (virtualbox), 16 status rows across 16 suites (bionic, focal, groovy, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): ignored 8, needs-triage 6, DNE 1, not-affected 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2021-25319

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-25319

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
opensuse factory <= 6.1.20-1.1 cpe:2.3:a:opensuse:factory:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-25319

URL Tags
https://bugzilla.suse.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1182918 Issue Tracking Patch Vendor Advisory
cvelogic Threat Intelligence