CVE-2025-5417 is an insufficient access control vulnerability identified in the Red Hat Developer Hub (RHDH) version 1.7, specifically affecting the rhdh/rhdh-hub-rhel9 container image. The flaw allows a cluster admin or user with standard user access to the Red Hat Developer Hub namespace to access and modify the contents of the container image. This vulnerability impacts the confidentiality and integrity of data within the container image. However, any modifications made are ephemeral and reset upon pod restart, limiting the persistence of unauthorized changes. The vulnerability is characterized by a CVSS v3.1 score of 6.1, indicating a medium severity level. The attack vector is adjacent network (AV:A), requiring low attack complexity (AC:L) but high privileges (PR:H) and no user interaction (UI:N). The scope remains unchanged (S:U). The vulnerability does not affect availability but compromises confidentiality and integrity. This means an attacker with elevated privileges within the cluster can alter container image content, potentially injecting malicious code or tampering with sensitive data during runtime. Although changes do not persist beyond pod lifecycle, the window of exploitation could be leveraged for lateral movement or data exfiltration within the cluster environment. The vulnerability is particularly relevant in containerized environments where Red Hat Developer Hub is deployed, emphasizing the need for strict access controls and monitoring of container image modifications.

For European organizations utilizing Red Hat Developer Hub 1.7, especially those operating containerized workloads on Red Hat OpenShift or similar Kubernetes platforms, this vulnerability poses a significant risk to the confidentiality and integrity of development and deployment pipelines. Unauthorized modification of container images could lead to injection of malicious code, compromise of intellectual property, or exposure of sensitive configuration data. Although the changes are non-persistent, attackers could exploit this window to execute malicious payloads or disrupt development workflows. This is particularly critical for sectors with stringent data protection requirements such as finance, healthcare, and government agencies across Europe. The vulnerability could also undermine trust in software supply chains and continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) processes. Given the medium severity and the requirement for high privileges, the threat is more likely to be exploited by insiders or attackers who have already gained elevated access, making internal security controls and monitoring essential.

1. Implement strict role-based access control (RBAC) policies to limit cluster admin and namespace user privileges to the minimum necessary, reducing the risk of unauthorized container image modifications. 2. Regularly audit and monitor container image integrity using cryptographic signing and verification tools such as Red Hat’s container image signing or third-party solutions like Notary or Cosign. 3. Employ runtime security tools that detect and alert on unauthorized changes to container images or running pods, including tools like Falco or OpenShift’s built-in security features. 4. Enforce pod security policies or OpenShift security context constraints to restrict capabilities that could be exploited to modify container images. 5. Ensure timely patching and updates of Red Hat Developer Hub and associated container images once official fixes are released. 6. Incorporate continuous monitoring and alerting for anomalous activities within the cluster, focusing on privileged user actions and container image modifications. 7. Educate and train DevOps and security teams on the risks associated with container image tampering and the importance of secure container lifecycle management.