CVE-2025-5417 in Developer Hub
Summary
by MITRE • 08/19/2025
An insufficient access control vulnerability was found in the Red Hat Developer Hub rhdh/rhdh-hub-rhel9 container image. The Red Hat Developer Hub cluster admin/user, who has standard user access to the cluster, and the Red Hat Developer Hub namespace, can access the rhdh/rhdh-hub-rhel9 container image and modify the image's content. This issue affects the confidentiality and integrity of the data, and any changes made are not permanent, as they reset after the pod restarts.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/19/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2025-5417 represents a critical insufficient access control flaw within the Red Hat Developer Hub container image rhdh/rhdh-hub-rhel9. This security weakness allows unauthorized users with standard cluster user privileges to gain access to and modify the container image content, fundamentally compromising the integrity of the system. The vulnerability specifically targets the Red Hat Developer Hub cluster admin/user who possesses standard user access to the cluster and the Red Hat Developer Hub namespace, creating an unexpected privilege escalation scenario where normal users can manipulate core system components.
The technical implementation of this flaw stems from inadequate access control mechanisms within the container image's deployment configuration. The vulnerability manifests when standard users can access the rhdh/rhdh-hub-rhel9 container image and modify its content, indicating a breakdown in the principle of least privilege enforcement. This issue directly relates to CWE-284, which addresses improper access control, and represents a classic case of insufficient authorization checks within containerized environments. The flaw allows for both read and write operations on the container image content, enabling potential data corruption, information disclosure, and system integrity compromise.
The operational impact of CVE-2025-5417 extends beyond simple unauthorized access, as it creates a persistent threat vector that can be exploited for various malicious activities. While the changes made to the image content are not permanent due to pod restarts, this temporary nature does not mitigate the security risk since attackers can repeatedly exploit the vulnerability to modify system configurations, inject malicious code, or alter operational parameters. The vulnerability affects both confidentiality and integrity aspects of the system, as unauthorized modifications can lead to data exposure and system compromise. This issue aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078.004, which covers legitimate credentials in cloud environments, and represents a significant concern for organizations relying on containerized development platforms.
The mitigation strategy for this vulnerability requires immediate implementation of proper access control measures within the container deployment. Organizations should enforce strict role-based access controls that prevent standard users from accessing or modifying the rhdh/rhdh-hub-rhel9 container image content. The recommended approach involves implementing proper pod security policies, restricting container image modifications through proper RBAC configurations, and ensuring that only authorized administrators can access the system's core components. Additionally, organizations should implement regular security audits to verify that access controls remain properly configured and consider implementing immutable container image policies to prevent unauthorized modifications. The vulnerability highlights the importance of maintaining proper isolation between different user roles within containerized environments and demonstrates the critical need for robust access control mechanisms in modern cloud-native deployments.