Arch Linux

luizzeross

Member

Registered: 2024-07-26

Posts: 4

High CPU usage with VirtualBox 7.2.4-1

I ran into this issue today. I use two VirtualBox VMs for my daily work, and since the last update, the host system has been using 100% of my CPU even when the guests are idle. I downgraded VirtualBox to version 7.1.8-4, and everything went back to normal.

For reference, both VMs are headless network servers (no GUI), running small services for my home network — one with AlmaLinux 10 and the other with Debian 6.1. In case anyone else is facing the same issue, downgrading was the only solution that worked for me, until the moment.

karabaja4

Member

From: Croatia

Registered: 2008-09-14

Posts: 1,032

Website

Re: High CPU usage with VirtualBox 7.2.4-1

Yeah, same issue. 7.2.2 works, 7.2.4 hogs the CPU to 100%.

I posted here as well FWIW: https://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?t=114175

NuSkool

Member

Registered: 2015-03-23

Posts: 285

Re: High CPU usage with VirtualBox 7.2.4-1

Running 'virtualbox 7.2.4-1' seems to run normal here...

Running on AMD Ryzen host system, tested an Arch, Frugalware, and a Ventoy USB via vbox running an Arch iso, vm's.

Last edited by NuSkool (2025-10-24 21:23:28)

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Scripts I Use                                                 :  https://github.com/Cody-Learner
grep -m1 'model name' /proc/cpuinfo    : AMD Ryzen 7 8745HS w/ Radeon 780M Graphics
grep -m1 'model name' /proc/cpuinfo    : Intel(R) N95
grep -m1 'model name' /proc/cpuinfo    : AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 2400GE w/ Radeon Vega Graphics

luizzeross

Member

Registered: 2024-07-26

Posts: 4

Re: High CPU usage with VirtualBox 7.2.4-1

Running 'virtualbox 7.2.4-1' seems to run normal here...

Running on AMD Ryzen host system, tested an Arch, Frugalware, and a Ventoy USB via vbox running an Arch iso, vm's.

I'm running on a i5 7600T host + 20GB RAM. Never had any issues until yesterday. Even when the guest is idling at GRUB boot screen, it's always 100% use. I only noticed it because the host fan started to make a very loud noise. Hehe.

auldnwb

Member

Registered: 2025-10-28

Posts: 2

Re: High CPU usage with VirtualBox 7.2.4-1

Same issue on a Dell host, i7-8850H with 16 GB RAM. Since the update to 7.2.4-1, on the host, /usr/lib/virtualbox/VirtualBoxVM uses 100% of one logical CPU core, even when the guest is idle. The guest system is an EndeavourOS VM.

I downgraded VirtualBox to version 7.1.8-4, and everything went back to normal.

What packages did you downgrade? Only virtualbox?

augofeta

Member

Registered: 2025-07-29

Posts: 4

Re: High CPU usage with VirtualBox 7.2.4-1

Same here, happens only if network adapter is NAT.

auldnwb

Member

Registered: 2025-10-28

Posts: 2

Re: High CPU usage with VirtualBox 7.2.4-1

Thanks for the tip. Looks like CPU use is back to normal after switching to Bridged Adapter in VM settings.

luizzeross

Member

Registered: 2024-07-26

Posts: 4

Re: High CPU usage with VirtualBox 7.2.4-1

I downgraded VirtualBox to version 7.1.8-4, and everything went back to normal.

What packages did you downgrade? Only virtualbox?

Right now my host have these two installed:

- virtualbox 7.2.2-2
- virtualbox-host-dkms 7.1.8-4

atagtm

Member

Registered: 2025-11-01

Posts: 1

Re: High CPU usage with VirtualBox 7.2.4-1

Seems like that setting the network adapter to virtio solves the NAT problem

VBoxManage modifyvm "my-vm" --nic1 nat --nictype1 virtio

Last edited by atagtm (2025-11-01 19:36:16)

pinkink

Member

Registered: 2022-11-26

Posts: 13

Re: High CPU usage with VirtualBox 7.2.4-1

Same issue here. I have also traced it to NAT.
To see if that's the case for you:

Find the pid of the VirtualBoxVM process, then run "top -H -p <pid>"

This displays the threads of the VM emulation process. If the thread named NAT is eating full CPU core, then this is the same issue.

To fix this and have the same networking behavior, I have switched the virtual adapter from NAT to NAT Network mode.

ericaz

Member

Registered: 2025-11-06

Posts: 1

Re: High CPU usage with VirtualBox 7.2.4-1

Had the same issue starting with 7.2.4.   Changing to Bridged Adapter (which works for my purposes) solved the issue... Thanks!

twqqis

Member

Registered: 2025-12-04

Posts: 1

Re: High CPU usage with VirtualBox 7.2.4-1

in my case, with 7.2.4 I had high usage due to NAT. Switched to bridged which lowered it to ~40%
I then realised the cpu execution cap was at 40%, which was a prev attempt to lower CPU usage. It showed in the VM as a process "EMT" when doing "top -H -p <vboxpid>" with constant 40% vm cpu usage.
After resetting exec cap back to 100%, host cpu was ~5-10% at idle.

Last edited by twqqis (2025-12-04 09:30:23)

sweatyslav

Member

Registered: 2025-12-05

Posts: 1

Re: High CPU usage with VirtualBox 7.2.4-1

Just my luck. Haven't touched VirtualBox for years until this update. Racked my brain until I found this thread. Can confirm that at least for me staying on 7.2.4-1 and simply switching from NAT to Bridged took my CPU usage from ~100% to <1%. Thanks everyone.