Medium severity · published Aug 7, 2025
CVE-2025-7195
Operator-sdk: privilege escalation due to incorrect permissions of /etc/passwd
6.4
CVSS
0.2%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
Early versions of Operator-SDK provided an insecure method to allow operator containers to run in environments that used a random UID. Operator-SDK before 0.15.2 provided a script, user_setup, which modifies the permissions of the /etc/passwd file to 664 during build time. Developers who used Operator-SDK before 0.15.2 to scaffold their operator may still be impacted by this if the insecure user_setup script is still being used to build new container images. In affected images, the /etc/passwd file is created during build time with group-writable permissions and a group ownership of root (gid=0). An attacker who can execute commands within an affected container, even as a non-root user, may be able to 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.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
High
Privileges
High
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.2% · higher than 15% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
ME
Multicluster Engine for Kubernetes · Red Hat
All versions, or not specified · source: vendor
OC
OpenShift Compliance Operator 1 · Red Hat
All versions, or not specified · source: vendor
OF
OpenShift File Integrity Operator - FIO 1 · Red Hat
All versions, or not specified · source: vendor
RH
RHEL-9-CNV-4.17 · Red Hat
All versions, or not specified · source: vendor
RH
RHEL-9-CNV-4.18 · Red Hat
All versions, or not specified · source: vendor
RH
RHEL-9-CNV-4.20 · Red Hat
All versions, or not specified · source: vendor
RH
Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2 · Red Hat
All versions, or not specified · source: vendor
RH
Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.11 · Red Hat
All versions, or not specified · source: vendor
RH
Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.12 · Red Hat
All versions, or not specified · source: vendor
RH
Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.13 · Red Hat
All versions, or not specified · source: vendor
RH
Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.14 · Red Hat
All versions, or not specified · source: vendor
RH
Red Hat Fuse 7 · Red Hat
All versions, or not specified · source: vendor