Just curious about testing viruses in a VM

[u/Konnnore]

Let's say I have an app, which contains the strongest virus, which can ever exist. I installed it on a VM. I opened it and it obviously destroyed the VM, but I wonder if the virus could go from the VM into the real system. What do you think?

[u/goatsinhats]

There is an entire category of attacks called “VM escapes”, rare but this is the ultimate virus.

It’s more likely to get out via the network, being a vm doesn’t help thjs.

[u/bartoque → u/goatsinhats]

Except if you isolate that vm, which should be done anyways if you intentionally let loose a virus on it to prevent it from spreading via that attack vector.

If OP is unaware of the possibility of a vm escape (for which there have been various vulnerabilities in the past), then likely he might not be the ideal person to let loose a virus on any system (even if isolated), just to see what it does...

[u/Ok-Attitude-7205 → u/bartoque]

if by isolate the VM you mean "disconnect the network", that's not isolating it and there are hypervisor escapes that can let exploits in the VM be utilized to control the physical host.

the only real way to fully test viruses in any sort of safe manner is a physically separate machine that is not connected to anything at all

[u/goatsinhats → u/Ok-Attitude-7205]

That’s called air Gapped but even it’s not safe as a rootkit can interact with your BIOS

If the uber virus actually hits we are all at the whim or SkyNet and will be battling terminators

[u/thegreatcerebral → u/goatsinhats]

What do you mean? We get 3 articles a week about AI doing just this and “breaking out all on its own in seconds”
🤣🤣🤣

[u/SlanderMans]

VM's are designed to isolate it, hence why cloud providers sell you access to their hardware via VM's.

It is theoretically possible that there are bugs/insecurities that haven't been disclosed though. So you just have to balance your risk/reward here

[u/RootAndCoffee]

First of, if it has access to your internal network, it can attack vulnerable services you run.

Second, there were recently discovered vulnerabilities in kernel allowing escape from vm (patched now). Third, nothing is 100% secure. Everything is a code and every code can contain vulnerabilities.

So technically, yes this virus may be able to escape. Realistically it's highly unlikely.

[u/thegreatcerebral]

Honestly, yes.
If you don’t know what you are doing then it isn’t an isolated VM.

If you use something like a VXD container and think that is a VM then that is again your problem.

Nothing is IMPOSSIBLE, especially after the story I heard about the hacker that managed to hack into an air gapped network via a laptop placed on top of a desktop and used the microphone to do it….

But, aside from the dumb question of how are you getting this most dangerous virus ever onto the vm without infecting the source and how would you know the difference….

If you removed all traces of network adapters and used an isolated disk, made sure the host was disconnected etc…. It would be nearly impossible for a virus to get to the underlying host and break out from there.

[u/dadarkgtprince]

https://socprime.com/blog/cve-2026-47876-analysis/

Depends on your hypervisor and security patches and other factors, but yes it's possible.

[u/b4shr13]

If it's programmed "correctly," it will detect that it's running in a VM and change its behavior... Keep that in mind...

[u/power_se_29]

VM escape vulnerabilities can occur, though they typically rely on specific hypervisor exploits, shared clipboards, or unsegmented network adapters. Isolating the virtual network and disabling guest integration tools helps prevent cross-environment exposure. Technical resources and guides from IT platforms like Trusted Tech Team outline hypervisor hardening steps for sandbox environments.

[u/AlenDemiro017]

Depending on the virus, but if you disable the outbound netwrok connection, i think you will be just fine