6.5
MEDIUM
CVE-2025-29781
Apache Metal3 Bare Metal Operator Secret Namespace Escalation
Description

The Bare Metal Operator (BMO) implements a Kubernetes API for managing bare metal hosts in Metal3. Baremetal Operator enables users to load Secret from arbitrary namespaces upon deployment of the namespace scoped Custom Resource `BMCEventSubscription`. Prior to versions 0.8.1 and 0.9.1, an adversary Kubernetes account with only namespace level roles (e.g. a tenant controlling a namespace) may create a `BMCEventSubscription` in his authorized namespace and then load Secrets from his unauthorized namespaces to his authorized namespace via the Baremetal Operator, causing Secret Leakage. The patch makes BMO refuse to read Secrets from other namespace than where the corresponding BMH resource is. The patch does not change the `BMCEventSubscription` API in BMO, but stricter validation will fail the request at admission time. It will also prevent the controller reading such Secrets, in case the BMCES CR has already been deployed. The issue exists for all versions of BMO, and is patched in BMO releases v0.9.1 and v0.8.1. Prior upgrading to patched BMO version, duplicate any existing Secret pointed to by `BMCEventSubscription`'s `httpHeadersRef` to the same namespace where the corresponding BMH exists. After upgrade, remove the old Secrets. As a workaround, the operator can configure BMO RBAC to be namespace scoped, instead of cluster scoped, to prevent BMO from accessing Secrets from other namespaces, and/or use `WATCH_NAMESPACE` configuration option to limit BMO to single namespace.

INFO

Published Date :

March 17, 2025, 10:15 p.m.

Last Modified :

March 18, 2025, 3:16 p.m.

Remotely Exploitable :

No

Impact Score :

4.0

Exploitability Score :

2.0
Affected Products

The following products are affected by CVE-2025-29781 vulnerability. Even if cvefeed.io is aware of the exact versions of the products that are affected, the information is not represented in the table below.

ID Vendor Product Action
1 Linuxfoundation baremetal_operator

We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).

Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.

The following list is the news that have been mention CVE-2025-29781 vulnerability anywhere in the article.

The following table lists the changes that have been made to the CVE-2025-29781 vulnerability over time.

Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.

  • CVE Modified by 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

    Mar. 18, 2025

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added Reference https://github.com/metal3-io/metal3-docs/blob/main/design/baremetal-operator/bmc-events.md
  • New CVE Received by [email protected]

    Mar. 17, 2025

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added Description The Bare Metal Operator (BMO) implements a Kubernetes API for managing bare metal hosts in Metal3. Baremetal Operator enables users to load Secret from arbitrary namespaces upon deployment of the namespace scoped Custom Resource `BMCEventSubscription`. Prior to versions 0.8.1 and 0.9.1, an adversary Kubernetes account with only namespace level roles (e.g. a tenant controlling a namespace) may create a `BMCEventSubscription` in his authorized namespace and then load Secrets from his unauthorized namespaces to his authorized namespace via the Baremetal Operator, causing Secret Leakage. The patch makes BMO refuse to read Secrets from other namespace than where the corresponding BMH resource is. The patch does not change the `BMCEventSubscription` API in BMO, but stricter validation will fail the request at admission time. It will also prevent the controller reading such Secrets, in case the BMCES CR has already been deployed. The issue exists for all versions of BMO, and is patched in BMO releases v0.9.1 and v0.8.1. Prior upgrading to patched BMO version, duplicate any existing Secret pointed to by `BMCEventSubscription`'s `httpHeadersRef` to the same namespace where the corresponding BMH exists. After upgrade, remove the old Secrets. As a workaround, the operator can configure BMO RBAC to be namespace scoped, instead of cluster scoped, to prevent BMO from accessing Secrets from other namespaces, and/or use `WATCH_NAMESPACE` configuration option to limit BMO to single namespace.
    Added CVSS V3.1 AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N
    Added CWE CWE-200
    Added CWE CWE-653
    Added Reference https://github.com/metal3-io/baremetal-operator/commit/19f8443b1fe182f76dd81b43122e8dd102f8b94c
    Added Reference https://github.com/metal3-io/baremetal-operator/pull/2321
    Added Reference https://github.com/metal3-io/baremetal-operator/pull/2322
    Added Reference https://github.com/metal3-io/baremetal-operator/security/advisories/GHSA-c98h-7hp9-v9hq
    Added Reference https://github.com/metal3-io/metal3-docs/blob/main/design/baremetal-operator/bmc-events.md
EPSS is a daily estimate of the probability of exploitation activity being observed over the next 30 days. Following chart shows the EPSS score history of the vulnerability.
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration

While CVE identifies specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2025-29781 is associated with the following CWEs:

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC) stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2025-29781 weaknesses.

CAPEC-13: Subverting Environment Variable Values Subverting Environment Variable Values CAPEC-22: Exploiting Trust in Client Exploiting Trust in Client CAPEC-59: Session Credential Falsification through Prediction Session Credential Falsification through Prediction CAPEC-60: Reusing Session IDs (aka Session Replay) Reusing Session IDs (aka Session Replay) CAPEC-79: Using Slashes in Alternate Encoding Using Slashes in Alternate Encoding CAPEC-116: Excavation Excavation CAPEC-169: Footprinting Footprinting CAPEC-224: Fingerprinting Fingerprinting CAPEC-285: ICMP Echo Request Ping ICMP Echo Request Ping CAPEC-287: TCP SYN Scan TCP SYN Scan CAPEC-290: Enumerate Mail Exchange (MX) Records Enumerate Mail Exchange (MX) Records CAPEC-291: DNS Zone Transfers DNS Zone Transfers CAPEC-292: Host Discovery Host Discovery CAPEC-293: Traceroute Route Enumeration Traceroute Route Enumeration CAPEC-294: ICMP Address Mask Request ICMP Address Mask Request CAPEC-295: Timestamp Request Timestamp Request CAPEC-296: ICMP Information Request ICMP Information Request CAPEC-297: TCP ACK Ping TCP ACK Ping CAPEC-298: UDP Ping UDP Ping CAPEC-299: TCP SYN Ping TCP SYN Ping CAPEC-300: Port Scanning Port Scanning CAPEC-301: TCP Connect Scan TCP Connect Scan CAPEC-302: TCP FIN Scan TCP FIN Scan CAPEC-303: TCP Xmas Scan TCP Xmas Scan CAPEC-304: TCP Null Scan TCP Null Scan CAPEC-305: TCP ACK Scan TCP ACK Scan CAPEC-306: TCP Window Scan TCP Window Scan CAPEC-307: TCP RPC Scan TCP RPC Scan CAPEC-308: UDP Scan UDP Scan CAPEC-309: Network Topology Mapping Network Topology Mapping CAPEC-310: Scanning for Vulnerable Software Scanning for Vulnerable Software CAPEC-312: Active OS Fingerprinting Active OS Fingerprinting CAPEC-313: Passive OS Fingerprinting Passive OS Fingerprinting CAPEC-317: IP ID Sequencing Probe IP ID Sequencing Probe CAPEC-318: IP 'ID' Echoed Byte-Order Probe IP 'ID' Echoed Byte-Order Probe CAPEC-319: IP (DF) 'Don't Fragment Bit' Echoing Probe IP (DF) 'Don't Fragment Bit' Echoing Probe CAPEC-320: TCP Timestamp Probe TCP Timestamp Probe CAPEC-321: TCP Sequence Number Probe TCP Sequence Number Probe CAPEC-322: TCP (ISN) Greatest Common Divisor Probe TCP (ISN) Greatest Common Divisor Probe CAPEC-323: TCP (ISN) Counter Rate Probe TCP (ISN) Counter Rate Probe CAPEC-324: TCP (ISN) Sequence Predictability Probe TCP (ISN) Sequence Predictability Probe CAPEC-325: TCP Congestion Control Flag (ECN) Probe TCP Congestion Control Flag (ECN) Probe CAPEC-326: TCP Initial Window Size Probe TCP Initial Window Size Probe CAPEC-327: TCP Options Probe TCP Options Probe CAPEC-328: TCP 'RST' Flag Checksum Probe TCP 'RST' Flag Checksum Probe CAPEC-329: ICMP Error Message Quoting Probe ICMP Error Message Quoting Probe CAPEC-330: ICMP Error Message Echoing Integrity Probe ICMP Error Message Echoing Integrity Probe CAPEC-472: Browser Fingerprinting Browser Fingerprinting CAPEC-497: File Discovery File Discovery CAPEC-508: Shoulder Surfing Shoulder Surfing CAPEC-573: Process Footprinting Process Footprinting CAPEC-574: Services Footprinting Services Footprinting CAPEC-575: Account Footprinting Account Footprinting CAPEC-576: Group Permission Footprinting Group Permission Footprinting CAPEC-577: Owner Footprinting Owner Footprinting CAPEC-616: Establish Rogue Location Establish Rogue Location CAPEC-643: Identify Shared Files/Directories on System Identify Shared Files/Directories on System CAPEC-646: Peripheral Footprinting Peripheral Footprinting CAPEC-651: Eavesdropping Eavesdropping
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