CVE-2025-32438 Local privilege escalation in make-initrd-ng
Local attackers can escalate privileges to root by creating a program executed during system shutdown in NixOS.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2025-32438?
CVE-2025-32438 is a high-severity vulnerability in NixOS nixpkgs, published on 15 Apr 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
make-initrd-ng is a tool for copying binaries and their dependencies. Local privilege escalation affecting all NixOS users. With systemd.shutdownRamfs.enable enabled (the default) a local user is able to create a program that will be executed by root during shutdown. Patches exist for NixOS 24.11 and 25.05 / unstable. As a workaround, set systemd.shutdownRamfs.enable = false;.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-32438?
How do I fix CVE-2025-32438?
No fix has been published for CVE-2025-32438 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Is CVE-2025-32438 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-32438 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-m7pq-h9p4-8rr4.