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Vulnerability · Published Apr 8, 2026 · Assigned by redhat

CVE-2025-57854Osus-operator: privilege escalation via excessive /etc/passwd permissions

Medium 6.4

In plain English

A medium-severity incorrect default permissions in Red Hat OpenShift Update Service from Red Hat. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.2% (higher than 4% of all known vulnerabilities).

Severity (CVSS 3.1)6.4Medium
Exploit odds (30 days)0.2%top 95.7% of all CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo reportsCISA SSVC: none
Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known

Official description

A container privilege escalation flaw was found in certain OpenShift Update Service (OSUS) 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, may be able to 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.

Affected products (as reported)

VendorProductVersions
Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Update Service see references

Weakness: CWE-276 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

References