CVE-2025-53881: openSUSE Tumbleweed · UNIX Symbolic Link (Symlink) Following
Affects openSUSE TumbleweedSource CVE Database V5
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.9 Medium.
Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 14:05 UTC
- EPSS
- 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 6% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:L/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:NExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 2 Oct 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 26 Oct 2026.
What to do
Affected software
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | Affected
| Fixed in– |
AI-suggested
- Immediate application of patches: Organizations should monitor openSUSE security advisories and apply updates to the exim package and logrotate configurations as soon as patches become available.
- Restrict local access: Limit the number of users with mail user/group privileges and enforce strict access controls to reduce the risk of local exploitation.
- Harden logrotate configurations: Review and modify logrotate scripts and configurations to avoid following symbolic links or to validate symlinks securely before processing.
- Implement file system protections: Use mount options such as 'nosymfollow' where applicable to prevent symlink following in sensitive directories.
- Monitor logs and system behavior: Deploy intrusion detection systems and monitor logs for unusual activity related to exim, logrotate, or privilege escalations.
- Employ mandatory access controls (MAC): Utilize AppArmor, SELinux, or similar frameworks to restrict the capabilities of the exim process and logrotate, limiting their ability to follow symlinks or escalate privileges.
- Conduct regular security audits: Periodically audit user privileges and system configurations to detect and remediate potential misconfigurations that could facilitate exploitation.
Description
A UNIX Symbolic Link (Symlink) Following vulnerability in logrotate config in the exim package allowed privilege escalation from mail user/group to root.This issue affects Tumbleweed: from ? before 4.98.2-lp156.248.1.