Ansible Automation Platform Container PrivEsc via Group-writable /etc/passwd
CVE-2025-57847 Published on April 8, 2026
Ansible-automation-platform: privilege escalation via excessive group writable /etc/passwd permissions
A container privilege escalation flaw was found in certain Ansible Automation Platform images. This issue arises from the /etc/passwd file being created with group-writable permissions during the build process. 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 vulnerability allows an attacker to add a new user with any arbitrary UID, including UID 0, gaining full root privileges within the container.
Vulnerability Analysis
CVE-2025-57847 can be exploited with local system access, and requires user privileges. This vulnerability is consided to have a high level of attack complexity. The potential impact of an exploit of this vulnerability is considered to be very high.
Timeline
Reported to Red Hat.
Made public. 225 days later.
Weakness Type
Incorrect Default Permissions
During installation, installed file permissions are set to allow anyone to modify those files.
Products Associated with CVE-2025-57847
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