VDB-336985 · CVE-2025-44005 · TALOS-2025-2242

smallstep Step-CA 0.28.3/0.28.4 improper authorization

CVSS Meta Temp Score CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.	Current Exploit Price (≈) Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.	CTI Interest Score Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
8.5	$0-$5k	0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in smallstep Step-CA 0.28.3/0.28.4. It has been classified as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is an unknown functionality. This manipulation causes improper authorization. This vulnerability is registered as CVE-2025-44005. Remote exploitation of the attack is possible. No exploit is available. Upgrading the affected component is recommended.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in smallstep Step-CA 0.28.3/0.28.4. It has been declared as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is an unknown code block. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a improper authorization vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-285. The product does not perform or incorrectly performs an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

An attacker can bypass authorization checks and force a Step CA ACME or SCEP provisioner to create certificates without completing certain protocol authorization checks.

The weakness was published by Stephen Kubik as TALOS-2025-2242. The advisory is shared at talosintelligence.com. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2025-44005 since 07/28/2025. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack can be launched remotely. The exploitation doesn't need any form of authentication. Neither technical details nor an exploit are publicly available. MITRE ATT&CK project uses the attack technique T1548.002 for this issue.

Upgrading to version 0.29.0 eliminates this vulnerability.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at EUVD (EUVD-2025-201012). Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Vendor

smallstep

Name

Step-CA

Version

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 8.6
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 8.5

VulDB Base Score: 7.3
VulDB Temp Score: 7.0
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CNA Base Score: 10.0
CNA Vector (talos): 🔒

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳

Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Improper authorization
CWE: CWE-285 / CWE-266
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔒
EPSS Percentile: 🔒

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

0-Day	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Today	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Step-CA 0.29.0

Timelineinfo

07/28/2025 CVE reserved
12/17/2025 +142 days Advisory disclosed
12/17/2025 +0 days VulDB entry created
12/17/2025 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Advisory: TALOS-2025-2242
Researcher: Stephen Kubik
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2025-44005 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2025-44005
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-336985
EUVD: 🔒

Entryinfo

Created: 12/17/2025 16:50
Updated: 12/17/2025 18:16
Changes: 12/17/2025 16:50 (65), 12/17/2025 18:16 (1)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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