CVE-2025-57850
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 · uneditedA container privilege escalation flaw was found in certain CodeReady Workspaces 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, can 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.
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 confidenceCodeReady Workspaces container images are built with /etc/passwd having group-writable permissions (e.g., 0644 or similar allowing group write). A non-root user who is a member of the root group can modify /etc/passwd to add a new account with UID 0, effectively gaining root privileges within the container.
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
- Local
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/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.
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Identify if running a CodeReady Workspaces container imageCheck the container or image name/version: run 'oc get pods -o jsonpath={.spec.containers[*].image}' or 'docker ps --format "{{.Image}}"', or inspect the base image labels with 'docker inspect <container> --format "{{.Config.Labels}}"'Affected if The container image is a CodeReady Workspaces image (any version)
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Inspect /etc/passwd file permissionsWithin the container, run: 'ls -la /etc/passwd' to check the permission bits. Look for 'g+w' in the permissions string (e.g., -rw-rw-r-- meaning 0644, or -rw-rw---- meaning 0640)Affected if The permissions show group-write permission (the group permission field contains 'w' for the group bits)
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Verify current user and group membershipRun 'id' or 'groups' within the container to see the current user's UID, GID, and supplemental groups. Also run 'cat /etc/group | grep root' to see which groups have root as a memberAffected if The current user is root (UID 0) OR is a member of the root group (GID 0 appears in the user's supplementary groups)
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Test write access to /etc/passwdAs the current user in the container, attempt to verify write access: 'test -w /etc/passwd && echo "writable" || echo "not writable"' or 'ls -l /etc/passwd' combined with group ownership checkAffected if The current user can write to /etc/passwd (test returns 'writable')
A user is affected if they are running a CodeReady Workspaces container where /etc/passwd has group-write permissions AND the user either has root group membership or can otherwise write to /etc/passwd, allowing them to add a UID 0 account.
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 dataRebuild the container images with correct /etc/passwd permissions (mode 0644 or 0644 with appropriate ownership) during the Docker build process, or update to a patched base image. Verify that /etc/passwd is not group-writable in final images.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-57850 — 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-2025-57850 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
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