dbcve.org
MaxkbApplication

CVE-2025-66446

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-12-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.4.0 or later.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable 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
MaxKB is an open-source AI assistant for enterprise. Versions 2.3.1 and below have improper file permissions which allow attackers to overwrite the built-in dynamic linker and other critical files, potentially resulting in privilege escalation. This issue is fixed in version 2.4.0.

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

MaxKB versions 2.3.1 and below have improper file permissions that allow attackers to overwrite the built-in dynamic linker and other critical system files, potentially leading to privilege escalation.

MitigationUpgrade MaxKB to version 2.4.0 or later to remediate the improper file permissions vulnerability.

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
MaxkbApplication
Affected:< 2.4.0

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
High
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/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 checks

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

  1. Identify MaxKB installation and version
    Run 'maxkb version' or check the installed package version via package manager (pip show maxkb or docker images). For container deployments, inspect the container image metadata.
    Affected if Installed version is 2.3.1 or below, or version cannot be determined but the product is MaxKB < 2.4.0
  2. Locate MaxKB installation directory
    Find the main installation path by running 'pip show maxkb' to get the Location, or for Docker containers check the container filesystem mount points.
    Affected if MaxKB is installed and the installation directory exists on the system
  3. Check file permissions on installation directory
    Run 'ls -la <maxkb_installation_path>' to list permissions. Look for directories or files with 'rwxrwxrwx' (777) or world-writable permissions, especially in bin/, lib/, or root-level application directories.
    Affected if Any critical system directories or binaries under the MaxKB installation have world-writable permissions (o+w) or overly permissive 777 access
  4. Check for modifications to system linker files
    Inspect the dynamic linker (usually /lib/ld-linux.so* or /lib64/ld-linux.so*) and system library paths that may be writable by the maxkb user. Run 'ls -la /lib/ld-linux*' and check if these files are owned by maxkb or have writable permissions for non-root users.
    Affected if The dynamic linker or critical system libraries are writable by the application user or have unexpected ownership

A system is affected if MaxKB version is below 2.4.0 AND the installation contains files with overly permissive (world-writable) permissions on critical system paths or binaries that could be overwritten for privilege escalation.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 2.4.0 or later
Fixed in 2.4.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade MaxKB to version 2.4.0 or later to remediate the improper file permissions vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

2.4.0

  1. Identify the current MaxKB installation method (Docker, pip, or source)
  2. Stop the MaxKB service to prevent active usage during upgrade
  3. Back up the current MaxKB configuration and data directory
  4. Upgrade MaxKB to version 2.4.0 or later using the appropriate method: For Docker, pull the new image; For pip, run 'pip install maxkb>=2.4.0'; For source, pull the latest release
  5. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the installed version
  6. Restart the MaxKB service
  7. Confirm the application is functioning correctly

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Maxkb Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,570
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,512.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2025-66446 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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