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Openshift Update ServiceApplication · Redhat

CVE-2025-57854

MEDIUM · 6.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-04-08
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
66/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click

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 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.

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

In certain OpenShift Update Service (OSUS) container images, the /etc/passwd file is created with group-writable permissions (likely 0646 or similar) during the image build process. A non-root user who is a member of the root group (GID 0) can exploit this misconfiguration by modifying /etc/passwd to add a new user entry mapped to UID 0, thereby gaining root-level privileges within the container.

MitigationRebuild the OSUS images with corrected /etc/passwd permissions (should be 0644 or stricter with root:root ownership, removing group-write access). Alternatively, ensure the base image or Dockerfile explicitly sets appropriate permissions on /etc/passwd during build.

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
Openshift Update ServiceApplication
Affected:all versions

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 checks

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

  1. Identify OpenShift Update Service containers
    Run 'oc get pods -A | grep -i update' or 'kubectl get pods -A | grep -i update' to find OpenShift Update Service pods. Alternatively, inspect container images with 'crictl images' or 'docker images' and look for osus, updateservice, or related image names.
    Affected if Containers running OpenShift Update Service images are present in the cluster
  2. Check /etc/passwd file permissions
    Exec into the container as a non-root user and run 'ls -la /etc/passwd' to inspect permissions. The vulnerable state is group-writable (such as 0664 or 0666).
    Affected if The /etc/passwd file shows group-write permission (the permission string contains 'rw-rw' for group, for example 0664)
  3. Verify current user group membership
    Exec into the container and run 'id' or 'groups' to check if the current user belongs to the root group (GID 0).
    Affected if The user is a member of the root group (output shows 'root' or '0' in the groups list)
  4. Test /etc/passwd modification capability
    Exec into the container as the non-root user and attempt to create a test entry in /etc/passwd (e.g., echo 'testuser:x:0:0::/tmp:/bin/false' >> /etc/passwd). Check if the write succeeds.
    Affected if The write operation to /etc/passwd completes without permission denied error

A user is affected if they are running OpenShift Update Service containers where /etc/passwd has group-write permissions and their user account is a member of the root group.

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

Rebuild the OSUS images with corrected /etc/passwd permissions (should be 0644 or stricter with root:root ownership, removing group-write access). Alternatively, ensure the base image or Dockerfile explicitly sets appropriate permissions on /etc/passwd during build.

Fix this in Openshift Update Service Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,060
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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-2025-57854 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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