CVE-2025-7195 | Operator-sdk: privilege escalation due to incorrect permissions of /etc/passwd

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.

Published: 2025-08-07 Last update: 2026-04-15 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2025-7195 is rated Low Risk (25.7/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.00%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2025-7195

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2025-08-08 0.00%

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-7195

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.4 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:H)
They need powerful rights—admin, root, or similar—before this pays off.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
0.5 5.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2025-7195

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2025-7195

GHSA-856v-8qm2-9wjv · Severity: medium · Ecosystem: go — operator-sdk: privilege escalation due to incorrect permissions of /etc/passwd

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-7195

vendor priority summary link
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-7195

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-7195

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
No affected products in dataset.

References for CVE-2025-7195

URL Tags
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHEA-2025:23406
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHEA-2025:23478
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHEA-2026:0129
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:19332
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:19335
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:19958
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:19961
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:21368
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:21885
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:22415
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:22416
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:22418
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:22420
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:22683
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:22684
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:23528
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:23529
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:23542
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:0627
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:0718
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:0722
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:0737
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:2572
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:5633
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-7195
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2376300
cvelogic Threat Intelligence