Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization 4 Image Parser /etc/passwd default permission

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization 4 and classified as critical. Affected by this issue is some unknown functionality of the file /etc/passwd of the component Image Parser. Executing a manipulation can lead to default permission. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2025-57848. The attack can only be executed locally. There is no exploit available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization 4. It has been declared as problematic. This vulnerability affects an unknown code of the file /etc/passwd of the component Image Parser. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a default permission vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-276. During installation, installed file permissions are set to allow anyone to modify those files. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

A container privilege escalation flaw was found in certain Container-native Virtualization 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.

The advisory is shared for download at access.redhat.com. This vulnerability was named CVE-2025-57848 since 08/21/2025. The exploitation appears to be difficult. The attack needs to be approached locally. Additional levels of successful authentication are needed for exploitation. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available. The current price for an exploit might be approx. USD $0-$5k (estimation calculated on 03/07/2026). The MITRE ATT&CK project declares the attack technique as T1222.

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 EUVD (EUVD-2025-35712). VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

Productinfo

Type

• Virtualization Software

Vendor

• Red Hat

Name

• OpenShift Virtualization

Version

• 4

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.redhat.com/

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VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

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