What is CVE-2008-3431?

CVE-2008-3431 is a high-severity vulnerability in Oracle Virtualbox. CVSS score: 8.8/10. Published 2008-08-05.

How severe is CVE-2008-3431?

High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 8.8 out of 10.

Is CVE-2008-3431 known to be exploited?

Yes. CVE-2008-3431 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-03-03), indicating it is being actively exploited. 3 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed.

Vulnerability in Oracle Virtualbox

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.

Published 2008-08-05 · last modified 2026-06-16.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 8.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.069 (94.0th percentile), scored 2026-10-18.

Low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, but still tracked. 94th percentile — 94.0% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.069 · newest: 0.069 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Oracle Virtualbox

CISA KEV (Known Exploited Vulnerabilities)

This CVE is on the CISA KEV catalog, added on 2022-03-03. CISA KEV inclusion means CISA has confirmed in-the-wild exploitation; US federal agencies are required to remediate within a published due date.

BOD 22-01 due date: 2022-03-24.

Required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

www.securityfocus.com/bid/30481 (Exploit, VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory, vdb-entry, Broken Link)
securityreason.com/securityalert/4107 (Broken Link, third-party-advisory)
www.exploit-db.com/exploits/6218 (Exploit, VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory, exploit)
sunsolve.sun.com/search/document.do (vendor-advisory, Broken Link)
secunia.com/advisories/31361 (Broken Link, Vendor Advisory, third-party-advisory)
www.coresecurity.com/content/virtualbox-privilege-escalation-vulnerability (Exploit, Third Party Advisory)
exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/44202 (VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory, vdb-entry)
www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2008/2293 (vdb-entry, Broken Link)
virtualbox.org/wiki/Changelog (Product)
securitytracker.com/id (VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory, vdb-entry, Broken Link)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2008-3431?: CVE-2008-3431 is a high-severity vulnerability in Oracle Virtualbox. CVSS score: 8.8/10. Published 2008-08-05.
How severe is CVE-2008-3431?: High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 8.8 out of 10.
Is CVE-2008-3431 known to be exploited?: Yes. CVE-2008-3431 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-03-03), indicating it is being actively exploited. 3 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed.