CVE-2025-54471 is a vulnerability classified under CWE-321, indicating the use of a hard-coded cryptographic key within SUSE NeuVector, a container security product. NeuVector embeds a cryptographic key directly in its source code, which at compilation is replaced with a secret key used to encrypt sensitive configuration data stored by the product. This practice is insecure because the key is static and can be extracted by an attacker with access to the binary or source, allowing decryption of sensitive data without needing to compromise other credentials or escalate privileges. The vulnerability affects NeuVector versions 5.3.0 and 0.0.0-20230727023453-1c4957d53911. The CVSS v3.1 score is 6.5 (medium), reflecting that the attack vector is network-based (AV:N), requires low privileges (PR:L), no user interaction (UI:N), and impacts confidentiality (C:H) but not integrity or availability. The scope is unchanged (S:U). No patches or known exploits are currently available. The vulnerability primarily risks confidentiality of sensitive configurations, which may include credentials, secrets, or policy data critical to container security. Exploitation could facilitate further attacks by exposing these secrets. The root cause is insecure cryptographic key management, a common but critical security flaw. Remediation involves eliminating hard-coded keys and implementing secure key storage and retrieval mechanisms, such as hardware security modules or environment-based secrets management.

For European organizations, the exposure of sensitive configuration data in NeuVector could lead to unauthorized disclosure of secrets, credentials, or security policies, undermining container security posture. This could facilitate lateral movement, privilege escalation, or data breaches within containerized environments. Organizations relying on NeuVector for Kubernetes or container security may find their defenses weakened if attackers decrypt configuration data. The impact is particularly significant for sectors with stringent data protection requirements such as finance, healthcare, and critical infrastructure. Confidentiality breaches could also lead to regulatory non-compliance under GDPR if personal data or security controls are compromised. Although integrity and availability are not directly affected, the confidentiality loss can indirectly enable further attacks. The absence of known exploits provides a window for proactive mitigation, but the medium severity score indicates a non-trivial risk that should be addressed promptly.

1. Immediately audit and identify all deployments running affected NeuVector versions (5.3.0 and 0.0.0-20230727023453-1c4957d53911). 2. Replace hard-coded cryptographic keys with dynamically generated keys stored securely using dedicated secrets management solutions such as HashiCorp Vault, AWS KMS, or hardware security modules (HSMs). 3. Implement environment variable or configuration-based key injection at runtime rather than compile time to avoid embedding keys in binaries. 4. Restrict network and user access to NeuVector management interfaces to trusted administrators only, minimizing exposure. 5. Monitor logs and network traffic for unusual access patterns that could indicate attempts to extract or misuse configuration data. 6. Engage with SUSE for official patches or updates addressing this vulnerability and apply them as soon as available. 7. Conduct regular security reviews of cryptographic implementations in container security tools to prevent similar issues. 8. Educate development and DevOps teams on secure key management best practices to avoid hard-coded secrets in future releases.