CVE-2025-54471 is a vulnerability identified in SUSE NeuVector, a container security platform, where a hard-coded cryptographic key is embedded in the source code (CWE-321). During compilation, this static key is replaced with a secret key value used to encrypt sensitive configuration data stored by NeuVector. The use of a hard-coded key undermines cryptographic security because if the key is discovered or extracted, an attacker can decrypt sensitive data without needing additional credentials or user interaction. The vulnerability affects NeuVector versions 5.3.0 and 0.0.0-20230727023453-1c4957d53911. The CVSS 3.1 score is 6.5 (medium severity), reflecting network attack vector, low attack complexity, requiring low privileges, no user interaction, and high impact on confidentiality but no impact on integrity or availability. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no official patches have been published yet. This vulnerability could allow an attacker with network access and low privileges to decrypt sensitive configuration data, potentially exposing secrets or configuration details that could facilitate further attacks or data breaches. The root cause is the insecure practice of embedding cryptographic keys in source code, which violates best practices for key management and cryptographic hygiene.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a significant risk to the confidentiality of sensitive configuration data managed by NeuVector. Since NeuVector is used to secure containerized environments, exposure of encrypted configurations could lead to leakage of secrets, credentials, or security policies, undermining the security posture of container deployments. This could facilitate lateral movement or privilege escalation within cloud-native infrastructure. The impact is particularly critical for organizations relying heavily on container orchestration and microservices architectures, common in sectors like finance, telecommunications, and critical infrastructure. Although the vulnerability does not affect integrity or availability directly, the confidentiality breach could have cascading effects on compliance with GDPR and other data protection regulations, potentially resulting in legal and reputational damage. The lack of known exploits reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the threat, especially as attackers could develop exploits given the public disclosure.

1. Avoid deploying or continue using affected NeuVector versions (5.3.0 and 0.0.0-20230727023453-1c4957d53911) until patches are released by SUSE. 2. Monitor SUSE security advisories closely for official patches or updates addressing this vulnerability. 3. Implement compensating controls such as network segmentation to restrict access to NeuVector management interfaces and encrypted configuration data. 4. Enforce strict access controls and role-based access to limit the number of users with privileges to access or manage NeuVector configurations. 5. Conduct an audit of cryptographic key management practices within the organization to ensure no other hard-coded keys exist. 6. Consider encrypting sensitive configuration data with keys managed externally via hardware security modules (HSMs) or secure key vaults rather than embedded keys. 7. Increase monitoring and logging around NeuVector components to detect any unusual access patterns or attempts to access encrypted data. 8. Educate DevOps and security teams on secure coding and cryptographic best practices to prevent recurrence of hard-coded keys.