CVE-2025-57850: CodeReady Workspaces /etc/passwd privilege escalation
CVE-2025-57850 Published on December 2, 2025
Codeready-ws: privilege escalation via excessive /etc/passwd permissions
A container privilege escalation flaw was found in certain CodeReady Workspaces 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, can 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.
Vulnerability Analysis
CVE-2025-57850 is exploitable 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 have a small impact on confidentiality, a high impact on integrity, and a small impact on availability.
Timeline
Reported to Red Hat.
Made public. 98 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-2025-57850
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Affected Versions
Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces: Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces: Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces: Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces: Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces:Exploit Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) scores estimate the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. The percentile shows you how this score compares to all other vulnerabilities.