CVE-2025-7195: operator-sdk: privilege escalation due to incorrect permissions of /etc/passwd
(updated )
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.
References
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHBA-2024:11569
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:19332
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:19335
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:19958
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:19961
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:21368
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:21885
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:22415
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:22416
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:22418
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:22420
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:22683
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:22684
- access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-7195
- bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2376300
- github.com/advisories/GHSA-856v-8qm2-9wjv
- github.com/operator-framework/operator-sdk
- nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-7195
Code Behaviors & Features
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