ISC Kea up to 2.4.1/2.6.2/2.7.8 Hook Library code injection

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in ISC Kea up to 2.4.1/2.6.2/2.7.8. It has been rated as critical. This issue affects some unknown processing of the component Hook Library Handler. The manipulation leads to code injection. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2025-32801. The attack is possible to be carried out remotely. No exploit exists.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in ISC Kea up to 2.4.1/2.6.2/2.7.8. This issue affects an unknown function of the component Hook Library Handler. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a code injection vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-94. The product constructs all or part of a code segment using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the syntax or behavior of the intended code segment. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

Kea configuration and API directives can be used to load a malicious hook library. Many common configurations run Kea as root, leave the API entry points unsecured by default, and/or place the control sockets in insecure paths. This issue affects Kea versions 2.4.0 through 2.4.1, 2.6.0 through 2.6.2, and 2.7.0 through 2.7.8.

The advisory is shared at kb.isc.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2025-32801 since 04/10/2025. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be initiated remotely. Neither technical details nor an exploit are publicly available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $5k-$25k at the moment (estimation calculated on 06/17/2025). MITRE ATT&CK project uses the attack technique T1059 for this issue.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 240099 (RHEL 10 : kea (RHSA-2025:9178)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

There is no information about possible countermeasures known. It may be suggested to replace the affected object with an alternative product.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at Tenable (240099). Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Vendor

• ISC

Name

• Kea

Version

• 2.4.0
• 2.4.1
• 2.6.0
• 2.6.1
• 2.6.2
• 2.7.0
• 2.7.1
• 2.7.2
• 2.7.3
• 2.7.4
• 2.7.5
• 2.7.6
• 2.7.7
• 2.7.8

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.isc.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

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Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

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