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Virtualization Escape - LM-0005

(SPARTA Technique)


Definition

The adversary pivots across partitions by abusing the mechanisms a separation kernel or hypervisor exposes for inter-partition communication and device sharing. Paths include message ports/queues, shared-memory windows, virtual NICs and bridges, hypercalls, and common driver backends (e.g., storage or DMA engines without strict IOMMU bounds). A foothold in a less-trusted partition, often a payload or guest OS, can be turned into access to a higher-privilege domain by crafting traffic that exploits parser flaws in port services, racing management channels, or coercing backend drivers to perform out-of-bounds operations. Once the boundary is crossed, the actor can reach bus gateways, file systems, or control applications hosted in adjacent partitions and continue movement under the guise of permitted inter-partition exchanges.


D3FEND Inferred Relationships





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© 2025 The MITRE Corporation.
Approved for Public Release; Distribution Unlimited #20-2338 and #23-1207.

Use of the MITRE D3FEND™ Knowledge Graph and website is subject to the Terms of Use. Use of the MITRE D3FEND website is subject to the MITRE D3FEND Privacy Policy. MITRE D3FEND is funded by the National Security Agency (NSA) Cybersecurity Directorate and managed by the National Security Engineering Center (NSEC) which is operated by The MITRE Corporation. MITRE D3FEND; and the MITRE D3FEND logo are trademarks of The MITRE Corporation. This software was produced for the U. S. Government under Basic Contract No. W56KGU-18-D-0004, and is subject to the Rights in Noncommercial Computer Software and Noncommercial Computer Software Documentation Clause 252.227-7014 (FEB 2012)
© 2025 The MITRE Corporation.
Approved for Public Release; Distribution Unlimited #20-2338 and #23-1207.

UI: 0.26.0