CVE-2025-57854 Osus-operator: privilege escalation via excessive /etc/passwd permissions
Attackers with container access can escalate to root by modifying the group-writable /etc/passwd file in OpenShift Update Service images.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- An administrator
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2025-57854?
CVE-2025-57854 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Red Hat OpenShift Update Service, published on 8 Apr 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
A container privilege escalation flaw was found in certain OpenShift Update Service (OSUS) 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, 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.
Weakness: CWE-276
Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-57854?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Redhat Openshift Update Service.
How do I fix CVE-2025-57854?
No fix has been published for CVE-2025-57854 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Is CVE-2025-57854 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-57854 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Red Hat OpenShift Update Service
- CVE-2026-74243 Quay: unauthenticated secscan notification endpoint in quay when psk is unset
- CVE-2026-74244 Quay: stripe webhook accepts forged events without signature verification in quay
- CVE-2026-74245 Quay: unauthenticated exported logs download in quay
- CVE-2026-74240 Quay: jwt claim validation bypasses in quay federated robot and sso authentication
- CVE-2026-74242 Quay: repository notification uuid idor in quay api
Sources
Also known as GHSA-28p4-crp9-2q2x.