CVE-2025-57852
Openshift-ai: privilege escalation via excessive /etc/passwd permissions
Description
A container privilege escalation flaw was found in KServe ModelMesh container images. This issue stems from the /etc/passwd file being created with group-writable permissions during build time. In certain conditions, an attacker who can execute commands within an affected container, even as a non-root user, can leverage their membership in the root group to modify the /etc/passwd file. This could allow the attacker to add a new user with any arbitrary UID, including UID 0, leading to full root privileges within the container.
INFO
Published Date :
Sept. 30, 2025, 3:15 p.m.
Last Modified :
Sept. 30, 2025, 3:15 p.m.
Remotely Exploit :
No
Source :
[email protected]
Affected Products
The following products are affected by CVE-2025-57852
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.
No affected product recoded yet
CVSS Scores
| Score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability Score | Impact Score | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 3.1 | MEDIUM | 53f830b8-0a3f-465b-8143-3b8a9948e749 | ||||
| CVSS 3.1 | MEDIUM | [email protected] |
Solution
- Ensure /etc/passwd is not group-writable.
- Rebuild container images after fixing permissions.
- Deploy updated container images.
References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools
Here, you will find a curated list of external links that provide in-depth
information, practical solutions, and valuable tools related to
CVE-2025-57852.
| URL | Resource |
|---|---|
| https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-57852 | |
| https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2391105 |
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration
While CVE identifies
specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or
weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2025-57852 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-2025-57852
weaknesses.
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-2025-57852 vulnerability anywhere in the article.
The following table lists the changes that have been made to the
CVE-2025-57852 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.
-
New CVE Received by [email protected]
Sep. 30, 2025
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Description A container privilege escalation flaw was found in KServe ModelMesh container images. This issue stems from the /etc/passwd file being created with group-writable permissions during build time. In certain conditions, an attacker who can execute commands within an affected container, even as a non-root user, can leverage their membership in the root group to modify the /etc/passwd file. This could allow the attacker to add a new user with any arbitrary UID, including UID 0, leading to full root privileges within the container. Added CVSS V3.1 AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:L Added CWE CWE-276 Added Reference https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-57852 Added Reference https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2391105