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<chapter id="Security">

<title>Security guide</title>

<sect1>

<title>Potentially insecure operations</title>

<para>The following features of VirtualBox can present security

problems:<itemizedlist>

<listitem>

<para>Enabling 3D graphics via the Guest Additions exposes the host

to additional security risks; see <xref

linkend="guestadd-3d" />.</para>

</listitem>

<listitem>

<para>When teleporting a machine, the data stream through which the

machine's memory contents are transferred from one host to another

is not encrypted. A third party with access to the network through

which the data is transferred could therefore intercept that

data.</para>

</listitem>

<listitem>

<para>When using the VirtualBox web service to control a VirtualBox

host remotely, connections to the web service (through which the API

calls are transferred via SOAP XML) are not encrypted, but use plain

HTTP. This is a potential security risk! For details about the web

service, please see <xref linkend="VirtualBoxAPI" />.</para>

</listitem>

<listitem>

<para>All traffic sent over an UDP Tunnel network attachment is not

encrypted. You can either encrypt it on the host network level (with

IPsec), or use encrypted protocols in the guest network (such as

SSH). The security properties are similar to bridged Ethernet.</para>

</listitem>

</itemizedlist></para>

</sect1>

<sect1>

<title>Authentication</title>

<para>The following components of VirtualBox can use passwords for

authentication:<itemizedlist>

<listitem>

<para>When using the VirtualBox extension pack provided by Oracle

for VRDP remote desktop support, you can optionally use various

methods to configure RDP authentication. The "null" method is

very insecure and should be avoided in a public network.

See <xref linkend="vbox-auth" /> for details.</para>

</listitem>

<listitem>

<para>When using teleporting, passwords can optionally be used to

protect a machine waiting to be teleported from unauthorized access.

Note however that these passwords are stored <emphasis

role="bold">unencrypted</emphasis> in the machine configuration XML

and therefore potentially readable on the host. See <xref

linkend="teleporting" /> and <xref

linkend="vboxmanage-modifyvm-teleport" />.</para>

</listitem>

<listitem>

<para>When using remote iSCSI storage and the storage server

requires authentication, a password can optionally be supplied with

the <computeroutput>VBoxManage storageattach</computeroutput>

command. Note however that this is stored <emphasis

role="bold">unencrypted</emphasis> in the machine configuration and

is therefore potentially readable on the host. See <xref

linkend="storage-iscsi" /> and <xref

linkend="vboxmanage-storageattach" />.</para>

</listitem>

<listitem>

<para>When using the VirtualBox web service to control a VirtualBox

host remotely, connections to the web service are authenticated in

various ways. This is described in detail in the VirtualBox Software

Development Kit (SDK) reference; please see <xref

linkend="VirtualBoxAPI" />.</para>

</listitem>

</itemizedlist></para>

</sect1>

<sect1>

<title>Encryption</title>

<para>The following components of VirtualBox use encryption to protect

sensitive data:<itemizedlist>

<listitem>

<para>When using the VirtualBox extension pack provided by Oracle

for VRDP remote desktop support, RDP data can optionally be

encrypted. See <xref linkend="vrde-crypt" /> for details. Only

the Enhanced RDP Security method (RDP5.2) with TLS protocol

provides a secure connection. Standard RDP Security (RDP4 and

RDP5.1) is vulnerable to a man-in-the-middle attack.</para>

</listitem>

</itemizedlist></para>

</sect1>

</chapter>