Which of the following describes the ability of code to target a hypervisor from inside a guest OS?

Which of the following describes the ability of code to target a hypervisor from inside a guest OS?

A.

Fog computing

B.

VM escape

C.

Software-defined networking

D.

Image forgery

E.

Container breakout.

B.

The correct answer is B. VM escape.

A hypervisor is a layer of software that allows multiple virtual machines (VMs) to run on the same physical hardware. Each VM operates as a separate and isolated environment, with its own operating system, applications, and resources. The hypervisor provides a way for each VM to interact with the underlying hardware without interfering with other VMs.

A VM escape, also known as a virtual machine escape, is a security exploit that allows an attacker to break out of a guest VM and gain access to the underlying hypervisor. This can give the attacker complete control over the virtualization infrastructure and all the VMs running on it.

VM escape attacks typically involve exploiting vulnerabilities in the virtualization software or the guest operating system to gain elevated privileges or execute arbitrary code. Once the attacker has compromised the guest VM, they can use various techniques to bypass the hypervisor's security controls and gain access to the underlying system.

Some examples of VM escape techniques include:

• Exploiting buffer overflows or other memory vulnerabilities in the guest operating system or virtualization software.
• Leveraging virtualization features such as direct memory access (DMA) or PCI pass-through to access the hypervisor's memory or other resources.
• Using covert channels or other side-channel attacks to communicate with other VMs or the hypervisor directly.

VM escape attacks are a significant threat to virtualization environments, particularly in cloud computing and other shared infrastructure scenarios. To protect against VM escape attacks, organizations should implement strong security controls at multiple layers, including the hypervisor, the guest OS, and the virtualization management tools. Regular vulnerability scanning and patching are also critical to prevent exploitation of known vulnerabilities.