CVE-2025-13193 is a vulnerability identified in the libvirt virtualization management library, specifically affecting Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10. The issue stems from the incorrect default permissions assigned to external inactive snapshots of virtual machines that are shut down. These snapshots are created with world-readable permissions, meaning any user on the host system, including unprivileged users, can read the snapshot files. Since these snapshots contain the guest OS disk state, this misconfiguration leads to an information disclosure vulnerability. The vulnerability does not require user interaction and can be exploited by a local attacker with low privileges, making it relatively easy to exploit once local access is obtained. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 5.5, reflecting a medium severity primarily due to the impact on confidentiality without affecting integrity or availability. No known exploits have been reported in the wild yet. The vulnerability highlights a security oversight in default file permission settings within libvirt's snapshot handling, which could expose sensitive guest OS data such as configuration files, credentials, or other private information stored within the VM disk images. This flaw is particularly concerning in multi-tenant or shared environments where multiple users have local access to the host system. The vulnerability was publicly disclosed on November 17, 2025, and is assigned to Red Hat as the vendor project. While no patches or exploit code are currently linked, organizations using affected versions should proactively address the issue to prevent potential data leaks.

For European organizations, the primary impact of CVE-2025-13193 is unauthorized information disclosure from virtual machine snapshots. This can lead to exposure of sensitive data such as credentials, proprietary information, or personal data stored within guest VMs. In sectors like finance, healthcare, and government, such leaks could result in regulatory non-compliance, reputational damage, and potential legal consequences under GDPR. Since the vulnerability requires local access, the risk is elevated in environments with multiple users or insufficient host access controls, such as shared hosting providers or large enterprises with many administrators. The flaw does not affect system integrity or availability, so direct system compromise or denial of service is unlikely. However, the confidentiality breach could be leveraged as a stepping stone for further attacks if sensitive information is extracted. European organizations relying heavily on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 and libvirt for virtualization infrastructure are at risk, especially those with complex multi-user environments or less stringent host access policies.

To mitigate CVE-2025-13193, organizations should first apply any official patches or updates from Red Hat as soon as they become available. In the absence of patches, administrators should audit the permissions of external inactive snapshot files created by libvirt and manually restrict them to owner-only access (e.g., chmod 600). Implement strict host access controls to limit which users have local access to systems running libvirt, reducing the attack surface. Employ mandatory access control (MAC) frameworks such as SELinux or AppArmor to enforce additional restrictions on snapshot file access. Regularly monitor and log access to snapshot files to detect any unauthorized attempts. Additionally, consider encrypting VM disk images and snapshots to protect data at rest. Review and update virtualization security policies to ensure that snapshot management follows the principle of least privilege. Finally, educate system administrators about the risks of improper file permissions in virtualization environments to prevent similar issues.