Missing AuthenticationWeakness · CWE-306

CVE-2025-12548

CRITICAL · 9.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-01-13
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
A flaw was found in Eclipse Che che-machine-exec. This vulnerability allows unauthenticated remote arbitrary command execution and secret exfiltration (SSH keys, tokens, etc.) from other users' Developer Workspace containers, via an unauthenticated JSON-RPC / websocket API exposed on TCP port 3333.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

A critical authentication and authorization bypass exists in Eclipse Che's che-machine-exec component. The JSON-RPC/websocket API listening on TCP port 3333 lacks authentication controls, allowing any unauthenticated attacker to execute arbitrary commands within other users' Developer Workspace containers and exfiltrate sensitive credentials such as SSH keys and tokens.

MitigationImmediately restrict or disable the unauthenticated che-machine-exec API on port 3333. Implement proper authentication and user-level authorization checks on the websocket endpoint to prevent cross-user command execution, and rotate any exposed credentials.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify che-machine-exec component is deployed
    List running containers or pods containing 'che-machine-exec' in their name, or search process list for the che-machine-exec binary/service
    Affected if The che-machine-exec component is running in the environment
  2. Confirm port 3333 is listening
    Run 'netstat -tlnp | grep 3333' or 'ss -tlnp | grep 3333' on the Che host to verify the JSON-RPC/websocket API port is open and listening
    Affected if Port 3333 is open and accepting connections
  3. Test unauthenticated API access
    Attempt to connect to the websocket endpoint at ws://<che-host>:3333/api/unauthenticated/test without providing any credentials, or use curl to send a JSON-RPC request to http://<che-host>:3333
    Affected if The API accepts and processes requests without requiring authentication tokens
  4. Check for authentication enforcement on websocket endpoint
    Review Che configuration files (usually in /etc/che or the Che operator CR) for authentication settings related to che-machine-exec, or inspect the websocket proxy configuration
    Affected if No authentication middleware or authorization policy is configured for the che-machine-exec API on port 3333
  5. Verify cross-user command execution is possible
    Send a JSON-RPC command targeting a different user's workspace container through the unauthenticated endpoint, observing if commands execute in a container belonging to another user
    Affected if Commands execute in containers belonging to users other than the requester without proper authorization checks

If che-machine-exec is running with port 3333 exposed and the API accepts unauthenticated requests, the environment is affected by this bypass.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Immediately restrict or disable the unauthenticated che-machine-exec API on port 3333. Implement proper authentication and user-level authorization checks on the websocket endpoint to prevent cross-user command execution, and rotate any exposed credentials.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation24.0 h
  • Testing16.0 h
  • Review / QA12.0 h
60.0 hours of engineering $10,480
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-12548 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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