dbcve.org
Improper Privilege ManagementWeakness · CWE-269

CVE-2025-6723

MEDIUM · 5.8 CVSS v4.0 Published 2026-01-30
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
60/100
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
Chef InSpec versions up to 5.23 and before 7.0.107 creates named pipes with overly permissive default Windows access controls. A local attacker may interfere with the pipe connection process and exploit the insufficient access restrictions to assume the InSpec execution context, potentially resulting in elevated privileges or operational disruption. This issue affects Chef Inspec: through 5.23 and before 7.0.107

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

Chef InSpec versions up to 5.23 and before 7.0.107 create Windows named pipes with overly permissive default access controls. A local attacker can interfere with the pipe connection process due to insufficient access restrictions, allowing them to assume the InSpec execution context and potentially gain elevated privileges or cause operational disruption.

MitigationUpgrade Chef InSpec to version 7.0.107 or later to obtain the patched version with proper Windows named pipe access controls.

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
Low
Authentication
X
User interaction
None
Scope
X

CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:H/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

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 if Chef InSpec is installed
    Run 'inspec --version' or 'chef-inspec --version' from command line to retrieve the installed version number
    Affected if No version output or command not found indicates InSpec is not installed
  2. Compare installed version to affected range
    Review the version output from step 1 and compare against: versions up to 5.23, or versions 5.24 through 7.0.106
    Affected if Installed version is 5.23 or lower, OR between 5.24 and 7.0.106 inclusive
  3. Confirm Windows operating system
    Run 'systeminfo' or check OS via 'Get-ComputerInfo' PowerShell command, looking for Windows in the OS name
    Affected if The system is running Windows (this vulnerability only affects Windows named pipe creation)
  4. Determine if InSpec uses named pipe execution
    Review InSpec configuration files (inspec.yml, profile.yml) or check if InSpec is run with remote execution targets that use Windows named pipes
    Affected if InSpec is configured to execute against Windows targets using the default transport which creates named pipes

User is affected if Chef InSpec versions 5.23 or lower, or 5.24 through 7.0.106 are installed on Windows and actively using InSpec execution features that create named pipes

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade Chef InSpec to version 7.0.107 or later to obtain the patched version with proper Windows named pipe access controls.

Recommended fix High confidence

7.0.107

  1. Upgrade Chef InSpec to version 7.0.107 or later
  2. Verify the installed version using `inspec --version` to confirm the upgrade was successful

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,720
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,752.

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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-2025-6723 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