Log in Start free

Vulnerability · Published Aug 7, 2025 · Assigned by redhat

CVE-2025-7195Operator-sdk: privilege escalation due to incorrect permissions of /etc/passwd

Medium 6.4

In plain English

A medium-severity incorrect default permissions in operator-sdk from operator-framework. 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 16% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.

Severity (CVSS 3.1)6.4Medium
Exploit odds (30 days)0.2%top 84.4% of all CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo reportsCISA SSVC: none
Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known

Official description

Early versions of Operator-SDK provided an insecure method to allow operator containers to run in environments that used a random UID. Operator-SDK before 0.15.2 provided a script, user_setup, which modifies the permissions of the /etc/passwd file to 664 during build time. Developers who used Operator-SDK before 0.15.2 to scaffold their operator may still be impacted by this if the insecure user_setup script is still being used to build new container images. In affected images, the /etc/passwd file is created during build time with group-writable permissions and a group ownership of root (gid=0). 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 packages & fixed versions

EcosystemPackageFixed inAdvisory
Gogithub.com/operator-framework/operator-sdk0.15.2GHSA-856v-8qm2-9wjv
Gogithub.com/operator-framework/operator-sdk0.15.2GO-2025-3852

Affected products (as reported)

VendorProductVersions
operator-framework operator-sdk 0 – before 0.15.2
Red Hat RHEL-9-CNV-4.17 see references
Red Hat RHEL-9-CNV-4.18 see references
Red Hat RHEL-9-CNV-4.20 see references
Red Hat multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.6 see references
Red Hat multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.6 see references
Red Hat multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.6 see references
Red Hat multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.6 see references
Red Hat multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.6 see references
Red Hat multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.6 see references
Red Hat multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.6 see references
Red Hat multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.7 see references
Red Hat multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.7 see references
Red Hat multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.7 see references
Red Hat multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.7 see references
Red Hat multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.7 see references
Red Hat multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.7 see references
Red Hat multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.7 see references
Red Hat multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.7 see references
Red Hat multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.7 see references
Red Hat multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.7 see references
Red Hat multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.7 see references
Red Hat multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.7 see references
Red Hat multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.7 see references
Red Hat multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.7 see references
Red Hat multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.7 see references
Red Hat multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.7 see references
Red Hat multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.8 see references
Red Hat multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.8 see references
Red Hat multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.8 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