VirtualBox fails to start with error Effective UID is not root

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1

VirtualBox fails to start. Was working previously, so an update somewhere has hosed it.

Error message with title “VirtualBox - Error in SUPR3HardenedMain”

Effective UID is not root (euid=1000 egid=100 uid=1000 gid=100) (rc=-10)

Please try reinstalling VirtualBox.

where: SUPR3HardenedMain what: 2 VERR_PERMISSION_DENIED (-10) - Permission denied.

The suggestion to “…try reinstalling VirtualBox” does nothing.

2

This indicates a problem with the file permissions.
I suppose it will work fine run as root (via kdesu or “su -” e.g.), right?

What security level are you using?

grep SECURITY /etc/sysconfig/security

What permissions do the installed files have?

ls -l /usr/lib/virtualbox/

(note that I assume you are using the openSUSE package here, I’m not sure whether things/locations are exactly the same in Oracle’s package)

3

What security level are you using?

PERMISSION_SECURITY=“easy local”

What permissions do the installed files have?

drwxr-xr-x 1 root root           246 May 28 14:02 components
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root        394672 May 13 16:25 DbgPlugInDiggers.so
drwxr-xr-x 1 root root            70 Oct 14  2017 ExtensionPacks
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root         47840 May 13 16:25 VBoxAuthSimple.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root         10504 May 13 16:25 VBoxAuth.so
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root        101848 May 13 16:25 VBoxAutostart
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root        147432 May 13 16:25 VBoxBalloonCtrl
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root          1472 May 13 16:25 VBoxCreateUSBNode.sh
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root        162608 May 13 16:25 VBoxDbg.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root           696 May 13 16:25 VBoxDD2R0.r0
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root           488 May 13 16:25 VBoxDD2RC.rc
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root        362576 May 13 16:25 VBoxDD2.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root        212904 May 13 16:25 VBoxDDR0.r0
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root        169908 May 13 16:25 VBoxDDRC.rc
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root       1756624 May 13 16:25 VBoxDD.so
-rw-r--r-- 2 root root        377016 May 13 16:25 VBoxDDU.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root         35224 May 13 16:25 VBoxDragAndDropSvc.so
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root         15185 May 13 16:25 vboxdrv.sh
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root         10600 May 13 16:25 VBoxDTrace
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root       2097152 May 13 16:25 VBoxEFI32.fd
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root       2097152 May 13 16:25 VBoxEFI64.fd
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root          5897 May 13 16:25 vboxes.sh
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root         60960 May 13 16:25 VBoxExtPackHelperApp
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root         22864 May 13 16:25 VBoxGuestControlSvc.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root         35360 May 13 16:25 VBoxGuestPropSvc.so
-rwxr-x--- 1 root vboxusers   158408 May 13 16:25 VBoxHeadless
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root        122000 May 13 16:25 VBoxHeadless.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root         18608 May 13 16:25 VBoxHostChannel.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root         70168 May 13 16:25 VBoxKeyboard.so
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root       1044856 May 13 16:25 VBoxManage
-rwxr-x--- 1 root vboxusers    27320 May 13 16:25 VBoxNetAdpCtl
-rwxr-x--- 1 root vboxusers   158408 May 13 16:25 VBoxNetDHCP
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root        151392 May 13 16:25 VBoxNetDHCP.so
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root vboxusers   158408 May 13 16:25 VBoxNetNAT
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root        303376 May 13 16:25 VBoxNetNAT.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root        192376 May 13 16:25 VBoxOGLhostcrutil.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root        156672 May 13 16:25 VBoxOGLhosterrorspu.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root        172728 May 13 16:25 VBoxOGLrenderspu.so
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root vboxusers    10608 May 13 16:25 VBoxPermissionMessage
-rw-r--r-- 2 root root        739704 May 13 16:25 VBoxREM.so
-rw-r--r-- 2 root root       2531504 May 13 16:25 VBoxRT.so
-rwxr-x--- 1 root vboxusers   158400 May 13 16:25 VBoxSDL
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root        196280 May 13 16:25 VBoxSDL.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root         47736 May 13 16:25 VBoxSharedClipboard.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root       1137840 May 13 16:25 VBoxSharedCrOpenGL.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root         39512 May 13 16:25 VBoxSharedFolders.so
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root        121817 May 13 16:25 vboxshell.py
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root       5173256 May 13 16:25 VBoxSVC
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root          4161 May 13 16:25 VBoxSysInfo.sh
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root         97112 May 13 16:25 VBoxTestOGL
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root         10576 May 13 16:25 VBoxTunctl
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root vboxusers    10632 May 13 16:25 VBoxUSB_DevRules
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root         10568 May 13 16:25 VBoxVMMPreload.so
-rw-r--r-- 2 root root       3536832 May 13 16:25 VBoxVMM.so
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root         10560 May 13 16:25 VBoxVolInfo
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root         68480 May 13 16:25 VBoxXPCOMC.so
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root         27496 May 13 16:25 VBoxXPCOMIPCD
-rw-r--r-- 2 root root       1110312 May 13 16:25 VBoxXPCOM.so
-rwxr-x--- 1 root vboxusers   158408 May 13 16:25 VirtualBox
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root      10274256 May 13 16:25 VirtualBox.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root       1795960 May 13 16:25 VMMR0.r0
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root       1371276 May 13 16:25 VMMRC.rc

I assume you are using the openSUSE package here

Correct. Update from official repos self-hosed itself.

4

Looks like it’s been an OpenSuse bug since at least June 2017

5

That’s fine.
If it had been set to “secure” or “paranoid”, your problem would have to be expected because then users are not allowed to run VirtualBox at all because of the stricter permissions.

drwxr-xr-x 1 root root           246 May 28 14:02 components
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root        394672 May 13 16:25 DbgPlugInDiggers.so
drwxr-xr-x 1 root root            70 Oct 14  2017 ExtensionPacks
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root         47840 May 13 16:25 VBoxAuthSimple.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root         10504 May 13 16:25 VBoxAuth.so
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root        101848 May 13 16:25 VBoxAutostart
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root        147432 May 13 16:25 VBoxBalloonCtrl
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root          1472 May 13 16:25 VBoxCreateUSBNode.sh
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root        162608 May 13 16:25 VBoxDbg.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root           696 May 13 16:25 VBoxDD2R0.r0
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root           488 May 13 16:25 VBoxDD2RC.rc
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root        362576 May 13 16:25 VBoxDD2.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root        212904 May 13 16:25 VBoxDDR0.r0
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root        169908 May 13 16:25 VBoxDDRC.rc
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root       1756624 May 13 16:25 VBoxDD.so
-rw-r--r-- 2 root root        377016 May 13 16:25 VBoxDDU.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root         35224 May 13 16:25 VBoxDragAndDropSvc.so
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root         15185 May 13 16:25 vboxdrv.sh
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root         10600 May 13 16:25 VBoxDTrace
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root       2097152 May 13 16:25 VBoxEFI32.fd
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root       2097152 May 13 16:25 VBoxEFI64.fd
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root          5897 May 13 16:25 vboxes.sh
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root         60960 May 13 16:25 VBoxExtPackHelperApp
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root         22864 May 13 16:25 VBoxGuestControlSvc.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root         35360 May 13 16:25 VBoxGuestPropSvc.so
-rwxr-x--- 1 root vboxusers   158408 May 13 16:25 VBoxHeadless
 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root        122000 May 13 16:25 VBoxHeadless.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root         18608 May 13 16:25 VBoxHostChannel.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root         70168 May 13 16:25 VBoxKeyboard.so
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root       1044856 May 13 16:25 VBoxManage
-rwxr-x--- 1 root vboxusers    27320 May 13 16:25 VBoxNetAdpCtl
-rwxr-x--- 1 root vboxusers   158408 May 13 16:25 VBoxNetDHCP
 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root        151392 May 13 16:25 VBoxNetDHCP.so
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root vboxusers   158408 May 13 16:25 VBoxNetNAT
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root        303376 May 13 16:25 VBoxNetNAT.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root        192376 May 13 16:25 VBoxOGLhostcrutil.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root        156672 May 13 16:25 VBoxOGLhosterrorspu.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root        172728 May 13 16:25 VBoxOGLrenderspu.so
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root vboxusers    10608 May 13 16:25 VBoxPermissionMessage
-rw-r--r-- 2 root root        739704 May 13 16:25 VBoxREM.so
-rw-r--r-- 2 root root       2531504 May 13 16:25 VBoxRT.so
-rwxr-x--- 1 root vboxusers   158400 May 13 16:25 VBoxSDL
 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root        196280 May 13 16:25 VBoxSDL.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root         47736 May 13 16:25 VBoxSharedClipboard.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root       1137840 May 13 16:25 VBoxSharedCrOpenGL.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root         39512 May 13 16:25 VBoxSharedFolders.so
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root        121817 May 13 16:25 vboxshell.py
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root       5173256 May 13 16:25 VBoxSVC
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root          4161 May 13 16:25 VBoxSysInfo.sh
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root         97112 May 13 16:25 VBoxTestOGL
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root         10576 May 13 16:25 VBoxTunctl
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root vboxusers    10632 May 13 16:25 VBoxUSB_DevRules
 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root         10568 May 13 16:25 VBoxVMMPreload.so
-rw-r--r-- 2 root root       3536832 May 13 16:25 VBoxVMM.so
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root         10560 May 13 16:25 VBoxVolInfo
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root         68480 May 13 16:25 VBoxXPCOMC.so
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root         27496 May 13 16:25 VBoxXPCOMIPCD
-rw-r--r-- 2 root root       1110312 May 13 16:25 VBoxXPCOM.so
-rwxr-x--- 1 root vboxusers   158408 May 13 16:25 VirtualBox
 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root      10274256 May 13 16:25 VirtualBox.so
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root       1795960 May 13 16:25 VMMR0.r0
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root       1371276 May 13 16:25 VMMRC.rc

As expected, the file permissions are wrong.
The marked files should have the suid bit set. You can set it manually (chmod +s filename), or better run “chkstat --system” to fix all wrong file permissions.
If the latter prints errors, please post them for further help.

Correct. Update from official repos self-hosed itself.

Never had a problem here, on two different systems.

Just because someone else had a similar problem doesn’t necessarily mean there’s a bug somewhere.

6

run “chkstat --system” to fix all wrong file permissions

Worked.

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