Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2025-1118 is a GRUB2 Secure Boot lockdown bypass affecting confidentiality. A highly privileged local user at the bootloader could use the GRUB dump command to read memory, potentially exposing signatures, salts, or other sensitive data. The available sources rate it medium severity, and there is no KEV listing or cited evidence of active exploitation.
Executive priority
Handle through normal vulnerability management with priority for high-trust Linux platforms, OpenShift nodes, and systems relying on Secure Boot. This does not currently justify emergency response without local attacker access or exploitation evidence, but patching should be scheduled promptly where vendor updates apply.
Technical view
GRUB2’s dump command is not blocked when GRUB is in lockdown mode under Secure Boot. The flaw permits memory disclosure from the bootloader context. CVSS 3.1 is 4.4: local attack, low complexity, high privileges, no user interaction, high confidentiality impact, no integrity or availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most relevant to systems using GRUB2 with Secure Boot lockdown where an attacker can obtain highly privileged local or bootloader-level access. Red Hat lists RHEL 9, RHEL 10 package 1:2.12-15.el10_0, and OpenShift Container Platform 4 RHCOS as affected; RHEL 7 and 8 status is unknown in the provided data.
Exploitation context
This is not a remote attack path. The attacker needs local access and high privileges, limiting broad internet-scale risk. Business impact is mainly disclosure of sensitive boot-time memory data. No active exploitation is supported by KEV or the provided sources.
Researcher notes
The key control failure is that a diagnostic memory-reading command remains available despite lockdown mode. The upstream GRUB commit and grub-devel discussion are relevant for code review. Avoid assuming all GRUB2 distributions are affected; the provided affected-product evidence is Red Hat-focused.
Mitigation direction
- Apply applicable Red Hat security updates, including RHSA-2025:16154 where relevant.
- Check Red Hat’s CVE page for product-specific package status and remediation guidance.
- For non-Red Hat GRUB2 deployments, check the distribution vendor’s advisory before assuming exposure.
- Prioritize systems where Secure Boot protects sensitive workloads or regulated data.
- Track the upstream GRUB commit and vendor backports for patch availability.
Validation and detection
- Inventory systems using GRUB2 and Secure Boot lockdown.
- Compare installed GRUB2 packages against Red Hat’s affected product guidance.
- Confirm whether RHEL 9, RHEL 10, or OpenShift RHCOS assets are present.
- Verify whether RHSA-2025:16154 or equivalent vendor fixes are installed.
- Document any RHEL 7 or 8 systems as status-unknown pending vendor confirmation.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-501: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupContainer behavior lookup
The affected technology mentions containers, so container-specific ATT&CK technique review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2025-1118 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Medium
- CVSS
- 4.4 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
SSVC decision data
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N0.83.6redhatVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
4.4MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
- CVE reservedCVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
- Source timelineredhat
Reported to Red Hat.
- Source timelineredhat
Made public.
- CVE publishedCVE Program
The CVE record was published.
- CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- RHSA-2025:16154CVE reference, redhat · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-1118CVE reference, redhat · vdb-entry, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHBZ#2346137CVE reference, redhat · issue-tracking, x_refsource_REDHAT
- https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/grub.git/commit/?id=34824806ac6302f91e8cabaa41308eaced25725fCVE reference, redhat
- https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/grub-devel/2025-02/msg00024.htmlCVE reference, redhat
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Trust Boundary Violation
Trust Boundary Violation represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.