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I am looking to join the warzone hosted by overthewire.org using an Ubuntu VM hosted in VirtualBox on Windows 10. I posted here a few days ago asking whether or not others on the warzone could use my VM to compromise my host machine and/or my home network. Here is the answer by multithr3at3d:

Yes, if your VM is accessible to other participants, it could potentially be attacked and/or compromised. Once the VM is compromised, it can trivially be used to attack the rest of your network.

While this may not be likely for a default install with no services running, be careful what services you expose (if any). Like the site says, a properly configured firewall should prevent most issues.

I responded saying that I would try to contact overthewire's community, which did not work.

What do I need to do in order to set this up? I presume I need a firewall on the host machine. Are there any extra layers of protection I can add on without forking out cash for paid antivirus?

After more research, I found the term for what I want: I want to stop a VM escape.

To clarify the structure of this system:

They host a VPN network. I have my home machine on my home network hosting a Virtual Machine. I log into my virtual machine and connect the VM to their network.

From what I understand, anyone to whom I connect with my VM can see my IP address. Once others in the warzone have gotten malware onto my VM, how can I prevent them from attacking my host machine and my network?

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AwesomeCronk
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  • You are hosting this at home? To prevent a machine on your network from accessing the rest of the network .... you segment the network ... This isn't a "firewall" thing. Put the VM or the host machine on a separate network (guest network, wired vs wireless, etc.) – schroeder May 04 '20 at 19:50
  • Right ... then that's what I thought at the very start. My first comment applies. – schroeder May 05 '20 at 07:20
  • You are opening up your machine (even a VM) on your personal device on your personal network to be hacked. And you want to protect yourself. The answer to this threat is always segmentation. – schroeder May 05 '20 at 08:48
  • Thanks @schroeder! I will spend some more time researching this. – AwesomeCronk May 05 '20 at 19:57

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