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Incorrect Default PermissionsWeakness · CWE-276

CVE-2025-7195

MEDIUM · 6.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-08-07
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
Early versions of Operator-SDK provided an insecure method to allow operator containers to run in environments that used a random UID. Operator-SDK before 0.15.2 provided a script, user_setup, which modifies the permissions of the /etc/passwd file to 664 during build time. Developers who used Operator-SDK before 0.15.2 to scaffold their operator may still be impacted by this if the insecure user_setup script is still being used to build new container images. In affected images, the /etc/passwd file is created during build time with group-writable permissions and a group ownership of root (gid=0). 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

Insecure /etc/passwd permissions in Operator-SDK before 0.15.2 allow container users in the root group (gid=0) to modify the passwd file and add a root-privileged user, achieving full container compromise.

MitigationUpgrade Operator-SDK to 0.15.2 or later, rebuild all operator images to remove the vulnerable user_setup script, and change /etc/passwd permissions to remove group write access (chmod 644 /etc/passwd).

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 checks

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

  1. Identify Operator-SDK version used
    Review your container build files (Dockerfile, build scripts, CI/CD pipelines) for the Operator-SDK version specified in any 'git clone', 'download', or 'operator-sdk' commands. Also check any lock files or dependency files that specify the operator-sdk version.
    Affected if The Operator-SDK version is before 0.15.2 (e.g., 0.15.1, 0.14.0, or any pre-0.15.2 release)
  2. Locate user_setup script in container image
    Search for a file named 'user_setup' or similar in your built container image: run 'find / -name "*user_setup*" 2>/dev/null' inside the container, or grep for 'user_setup' in your Dockerfile and build scripts.
    Affected if A 'user_setup' script exists in the container image or build context
  3. Inspect /etc/passwd permissions
    Run 'ls -l /etc/passwd' inside the running container to check the file permissions.
    Affected if Permissions are 664 or any group-writable setting (e.g., -rw-rw-r--)
  4. Check for root group membership
    Run 'id' or 'groups' for the user you use to execute commands inside the container. Also run 'getent group 0' to check who belongs to the root group (gid=0).
    Affected if Any non-root user in the container has gid=0 (root group) or belongs to a group with GID 0

A user is affected if they built a container with Operator-SDK before 0.15.2, the container contains a user_setup script, /etc/passwd is group-writable (664), and a non-root user with root group (gid=0) can execute commands in that container.

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 Operator-SDK to 0.15.2 or later, rebuild all operator images to remove the vulnerable user_setup script, and change /etc/passwd permissions to remove group write access (chmod 644 /etc/passwd).

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Operator-SDK 0.15.2 or later

  1. Identify if the operator project uses the user_setup script from Operator-SDK (check for user_setup script in the project or /etc/passwd with 664 permissions in the container image)
  2. Upgrade Operator-SDK to version 0.15.2 or later by updating the tool version in your project (e.g., via 'operator-sdk version' or your build configuration)
  3. Regenerate the operator scaffolding using 'operator-sdk init' or 'operator-sdk create api' with the updated Operator-SDK version to ensure the new user_setup script is used
  4. Rebuild the operator container image to include the corrected permissions on /etc/passwd
  5. Verify that /etc/passwd in the new image has permissions 644 (or more restrictive) and is no longer group-writable by checking the Dockerfile or running 'ls -la /etc/passwd' inside the container

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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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-2025-7195 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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