CVE-2025-14946VulnerabilityPublished 19 Dec 2025Updated 22 Dec 2025

CVE-2025-14946: Red Hat libnbd · Argument Injection

Affects Red Hat libnbdSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 4.8 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 06:26 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

4.8Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 3% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: Required
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: Low
Integrity: Low
Availability: Low

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: Required: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a user to take some action before the vulnerability can be exploited.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: Low: There is some loss of confidentiality. Access to some restricted information is obtained, but the attacker does not have control over what information is obtained, or the amount or kind of loss is limited. The information disclosure does not cause a direct, serious loss to the impacted component.
Integrity: Low: Modification of data is possible, but the attacker does not have control over the consequence of a modification, or the amount of modification is limited. The data modification does not have a direct, serious impact on the impacted component.
Availability: Low: Performance is reduced or there are interruptions in resource availability. Even if repeated exploitation of the vulnerability is possible, the attacker does not have the ability to completely deny service to legitimate users. The resources in the impacted component are either partially available all of the time, or fully available only some of the time, but overall there is no direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 19 Dec 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-26.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Red Hatredhat/libnbd`pkg:rpm/redhat/libnbd`Other threats	Affected =1.22.0 =1.23.0	Fixed in–

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AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2025-14946, organizations should: 1) Monitor for updates and apply patches from Red Hat or libnbd maintainers as soon as they become available to ensure proper input sanitization and argument handling. 2) Implement strict input validation and sanitization on all URIs passed to libnbd, rejecting or sanitizing hostnames that begin with argument-like prefixes such as '-o'. 3) Restrict libnbd usage to trusted users and environments, minimizing exposure to untrusted or malicious inputs. 4) Employ application whitelisting or command-line argument filtering to prevent injection of unauthorized SSH arguments. 5) Audit and monitor logs for unusual SSH command invocations or libnbd usage patterns indicative of exploitation attempts. 6) Limit privileges of users running libnbd to the minimum necessary to reduce the impact of potential code execution. 7) Educate users and administrators about the risks of processing untrusted URIs with libnbd. 8) Consider network segmentation to isolate systems running libnbd from untrusted networks or users. These measures, combined with timely patching, will reduce the risk of exploitation and limit potential damage.

Description

A flaw was found in libnbd. A malicious actor could exploit this by convincing libnbd to open a specially crafted Uniform Resource Identifier (URI). This vulnerability arises because non-standard hostnames starting with '-o' are incorrectly interpreted as arguments to the Secure Shell (SSH) process, rather than as hostnames. This could lead to arbitrary code execution with the privileges of the user running libnbd.

Impact

The impact of CVE-2025-14946 is primarily on the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of systems running vulnerable versions of libnbd. Successful exploitation allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running libnbd, which could lead to unauthorized access, data manipulation, or disruption of services. Since libnbd is used to manage network block devices, exploitation could compromise storage operations, potentially affecting data integrity and availability. However, the attack requires local privileges and user interaction, limiting the ease of exploitation and scope. Organizations using libnbd in critical infrastructure or cloud environments that rely on SSH for remote device management are at higher risk. The medium severity rating reflects these factors. While no known exploits exist currently, the vulnerability could be leveraged in targeted attacks against systems with exposed libnbd usage. Failure to address this flaw could lead to lateral movement within networks or privilege escalation in multi-user environments. The impact is more pronounced in environments where libnbd is integrated into automated workflows or exposed to untrusted inputs. Overall, the threat poses a moderate risk but should be addressed promptly to prevent potential exploitation.

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 27 Feb 2026, 11:45 UTC

Technical details

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