GHSA-856V-8QM2-9WJV

Vulnerability from github – Published: 2025-08-07 21:31 – Updated: 2026-01-15 00:31
VLAI?
Summary
operator-sdk: privilege escalation due to incorrect permissions of /etc/passwd
Details

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 was 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.

Severity ?
5.2 (Medium)
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:L
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{
  "affected": [
    {
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "Go",
        "name": "github.com/operator-framework/operator-sdk"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "0.15.2"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "aliases": [
    "CVE-2025-7195"
  ],
  "database_specific": {
    "cwe_ids": [
      "CWE-276"
    ],
    "github_reviewed": true,
    "github_reviewed_at": "2025-08-07T21:59:46Z",
    "nvd_published_at": "2025-08-07T19:15:29Z",
    "severity": "MODERATE"
  },
  "details": "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 was 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.",
  "id": "GHSA-856v-8qm2-9wjv",
  "modified": "2026-01-15T00:31:37Z",
  "published": "2025-08-07T21:31:08Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-7195"
    },
    {
      "type": "PACKAGE",
      "url": "https://github.com/operator-framework/operator-sdk"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2376300"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-7195"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:0627"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:23542"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:23529"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:23528"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:22684"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:22683"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:22420"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:22418"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:22416"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:22415"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:21885"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:21368"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:19961"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:19958"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:19335"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:19332"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHEA-2026:0129"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHEA-2025:23478"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHEA-2025:23406"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHBA-2024:11569"
    }
  ],
  "schema_version": "1.4.0",
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:L",
      "type": "CVSS_V3"
    }
  ],
  "summary": "operator-sdk: privilege escalation due to incorrect permissions of /etc/passwd"
}


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