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CVE Record

CVE-2025-57848: Container-native-virtualization: privilege escalation via excessive /etc/passwd permissions

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.

MediumCVSS 6.4Not KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

Affected Red Hat Container-native Virtualization images may let an already-privileged container user become root inside that container. The weakness comes from unsafe permissions on /etc/passwd. It does not establish a direct remote compromise or host escape, but root access could significantly increase damage within a compromised workload.

Executive priority

Treat this as a planned, near-term remediation for affected CNV 4.12 environments, with faster action where users or processes can execute commands inside containers. The prerequisites reduce immediate likelihood, but successful escalation grants root within the container and can materially increase the impact of an existing compromise.

Technical view

During image creation, /etc/passwd is group-writable. Under specific conditions, a non-root command-capable user belonging to the root group can alter that file, create an account assigned UID 0, and gain container-root privileges. CVSS 3.1 is 6.4, reflecting local access, high complexity, high required privileges, and high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts.

Likely exposure

Exposure is limited to the listed RHEL-8-CNV-4.12 image packages and versions, including networking, storage, operator, console, must-gather, and Tekton task components. Prioritize containers where non-root users can execute commands and retain root-group membership. The bundle does not identify other products or versions as affected.

Exploitation context

The attack requires existing command execution inside an affected container, root-group membership, high privileges, and specific conditions. The bundle marks the CVE as absent from KEV and provides no evidence of active exploitation. It also does not demonstrate host-level container escape.

Researcher notes

CWE-276 applies because default file permissions are excessive. Assessment should distinguish image build-time state from runtime changes and verify effective group membership. Evidence supports container-local UID 0 escalation only; host escape, cross-container impact, public proof-of-concept availability, and active exploitation are not established by the supplied sources.

Mitigation direction

  • Inventory deployments using the listed RHEL-8-CNV-4.12 image packages and versions.
  • Review the applicable Red Hat CVE entry and errata for vendor-approved updates.
  • Apply applicable Red Hat updates using established change-control and rollback procedures.
  • Restrict unnecessary container command access and root-group membership pending remediation.
  • Replace affected running containers after updating their source images.

Validation and detection

  • Confirm deployed image package names and versions against the affected list.
  • Inspect affected containers to verify /etc/passwd is not group-writable.
  • Verify non-root runtime identities do not unnecessarily belong to the root group.
  • Confirm updated images follow the applicable Red Hat errata guidance.
  • Recreate containers and verify the intended updated image digest is running.
Prepared
Confidence
high
Sources
9

Public sources used

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

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 · low confidence lookup

CWE-276: 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.

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description · low confidence lookup

Privilege behavior lookup

The CVE wording references privilege impact, so privilege escalation and authorization behavior review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.

Open ATT&CK lookup
description · low confidence lookup

Container 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 lookup
cve · low confidence lookup

CVE-2025-57848 mapping review

Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Medium
CVSS
6.4 (3.1)
Known Exploited
No
Published

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Official CVE source material

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.

1CVSS vectors
5Timeline events
1ADP providers
8Source links

SSVC decision data

CISA-ADPCISA Coordinator
Timestamp
Version
2.0.3
Exploitation: noneAutomatable: noTechnical Impact: total

CVSS vector scores

1 official score

We 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.

ScoreVersionSeverityVectorExploitImpactSource
6.4CVSS 3.1MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H0.55.9redhat

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.1 score

6.4Medium
CVSS 3.1 vector shape for CVE-2025-57848Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack Vector
NetworkAdjacentLocalPhysical
Attack Complexity
LowHigh
Privileges Required
NoneLowHigh
User Interaction
NoneRequired
Scope
ChangedUnchanged
Confidentiality Impact
HighLowNone
Integrity Impact
HighLowNone
Availability Impact
HighLowNone

Vulnerability timeline

Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.

  1. CVE reservedCVE Program

    The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.

  2. Source timelineredhat

    Reported to Red Hat.

  3. Source timelineredhat

    Made public.

  4. CVE publishedCVE Program

    The CVE record was published.

  5. CVE updatedCVE Program

    The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.

ADP provider summaries

CISA-ADPCISA ADP Vulnrichment
other:ssvc

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
Red HatRHEL-8-CNV-4.12container-native-virtualization/bridge-marker, v4.12.21-4affected
Red HatRHEL-8-CNV-4.12container-native-virtualization/cluster-network-addons-operator, v4.12.21-4affected
Red HatRHEL-8-CNV-4.12container-native-virtualization/cnv-containernetworking-plugins, v4.12.21-4affected
Red HatRHEL-8-CNV-4.12container-native-virtualization/cnv-must-gather-rhel8, v4.12.21-3affected
Red HatRHEL-8-CNV-4.12container-native-virtualization/hco-bundle-registry, v4.12.21-21affected
Red HatRHEL-8-CNV-4.12container-native-virtualization/hostpath-csi-driver, v4.12.21-4affected
Red HatRHEL-8-CNV-4.12container-native-virtualization/hostpath-provisioner-rhel8, v4.12.21-4affected
Red HatRHEL-8-CNV-4.12container-native-virtualization/hostpath-provisioner-rhel8-operator, v4.12.21-4affected
Red HatRHEL-8-CNV-4.12container-native-virtualization/hyperconverged-cluster-operator, v4.12.21-5affected
Red HatRHEL-8-CNV-4.12container-native-virtualization/hyperconverged-cluster-webhook-rhel8, v4.12.21-5affected
Red HatRHEL-8-CNV-4.12container-native-virtualization/kubemacpool, v4.12.21-4affected
Red HatRHEL-8-CNV-4.12container-native-virtualization/kubevirt-console-plugin, v4.12.21-5affected
Red HatRHEL-8-CNV-4.12container-native-virtualization/kubevirt-ssp-operator, v4.12.21-4affected
Red HatRHEL-8-CNV-4.12container-native-virtualization/kubevirt-tekton-tasks-cleanup-vm, v4.12.21-4affected
Red HatRHEL-8-CNV-4.12container-native-virtualization/kubevirt-tekton-tasks-copy-template, v4.12.21-4affected
Red HatRHEL-8-CNV-4.12container-native-virtualization/kubevirt-tekton-tasks-create-datavolume, v4.12.21-4affected
Red HatRHEL-8-CNV-4.12container-native-virtualization/kubevirt-tekton-tasks-create-vm-from-template, v4.12.21-4affected
Red HatRHEL-8-CNV-4.12container-native-virtualization/kubevirt-tekton-tasks-disk-virt-customize, v4.12.21-9affected
Red HatRHEL-8-CNV-4.12container-native-virtualization/kubevirt-tekton-tasks-disk-virt-sysprep, v4.12.21-9affected
Red HatRHEL-8-CNV-4.12container-native-virtualization/kubevirt-tekton-tasks-modify-vm-template, v4.12.21-4affected
Red HatRHEL-8-CNV-4.12container-native-virtualization/kubevirt-tekton-tasks-operator, v4.12.21-4affected
Red HatRHEL-8-CNV-4.12container-native-virtualization/kubevirt-tekton-tasks-wait-for-vmi-status, v4.12.21-4affected
Red HatRHEL-8-CNV-4.12container-native-virtualization/kubevirt-template-validator, v4.12.21-4affected
Red HatRHEL-8-CNV-4.12container-native-virtualization/libguestfs-tools, v4.12.21-8affected
Red HatRHEL-8-CNV-4.12container-native-virtualization/ovs-cni-marker, v4.12.21-4affected
Red HatRHEL-8-CNV-4.12container-native-virtualization/ovs-cni-plugin, v4.12.21-4affected
Red HatRHEL-8-CNV-4.12container-native-virtualization/virt-api, v4.12.21-8affected
Red HatRHEL-8-CNV-4.12container-native-virtualization/virt-artifacts-server, v4.12.21-8affected
Red HatRHEL-8-CNV-4.12container-native-virtualization/virt-cdi-apiserver, v4.12.21-4affected
Red HatRHEL-8-CNV-4.12container-native-virtualization/virt-cdi-cloner, v4.12.21-4affected
Weakness

CWE details

CWE-276

CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.