See my comment #3 --- I now think this is wrong, as it also set the perms for the directories to 0660 * /usr/lib/virtualbox/vboxdrv.sh lines 63-65 should (IMO) read (it was /etc/vboxusb on my box): chmod "${DEVICE_MODE}" /dev/vboxusb/ chmod "${DEVICE_MODE}" /dev/vboxusb/* chmod "${DEVICE_MODE}" /dev/vboxusb/*/* --- If I replace all the chmod lines with: find /dev/vboxusb -type f -exec chmod "${DEVICE_MODE}" {} \; find /dev/vboxusb -type d -exec chmod g+x {} \; The perms for the device nodes are 0600 (OK) The perms for the (previously created) folders just get g+x (just in case) and are _not_ overwritten with 0660 (no g+x)