CVE-2025-33120
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 · uneditedIBM QRadar SIEM 7.5 through 7.5.0 UP13 could allow an authenticated user to escalate their privileges via a misconfigured cronjob due to execution with unnecessary privileges.
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 · moderate confidenceIBM QRadar SIEM versions 7.5 through 7.5.0 UP13 contain a misconfigured cronjob that executes with elevated privileges. An authenticated user can exploit this misconfiguration to escalate their privileges on the system by manipulating the cronjob execution context.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data= 7.5.0= 7.5.0CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Identify QRadar SIEM versionUse the QRadar management console or run 'qrdf -v' or check /opt/qradar/conf/qradar.version to determine the installed versionAffected if Version is 7.5.0 through 7.5.0 UP13 (any 7.5.x version in this range)
-
Locate cronjobs with elevated privilegesExamine the system crontab files in /etc/crontab, /var/spool/cron/, and /etc/cron.d/ for jobs running as root or other privileged usersAffected if Any cronjob exists that runs as root or elevated user rather than a service account
-
Inspect cronjob execution contextReview the cronjob entry to check which user the job runs as and examine the associated script or command it executesAffected if The cronjob runs as root or a privileged account and the script can be modified by a lower-privilege user
-
Check cronjob file permissionsRun 'ls -la' on cron directory files and scripts referenced by cronjobs to verify file ownership and write permissionsAffected if Scripts or configuration files referenced by cronjobs are writable by non-root users or groups
-
Verify cronjob script integrityExamine scripts executed by cronjobs for modifications or injection points that could be exploited by an authenticated userAffected if Cronjob scripts contain writable paths, unsanitized inputs, or allow user-controlled modifications to execution flow
You are affected if your QRadar SIEM version is 7.5.0 through 7.5.0 UP13 and you have a cronjob configured to run with elevated privileges that can be manipulated by an authenticated user.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataReview and remediate the misconfigured cronjob to ensure it runs with minimum necessary privileges rather than elevated permissions. Apply the vendor patch or update to a fixed version.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,680.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-33120 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-33120 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data