CVE-2025-57848 is a container privilege escalation vulnerability identified in Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization 4, specifically affecting certain container-native virtualization images. The root cause is the /etc/passwd file being created with group-writable permissions during the container image build process. This misconfiguration allows any user who can execute commands inside the container and is a member of the root group to modify the /etc/passwd file. By altering this file, an attacker can add new user entries with arbitrary user IDs, including UID 0, effectively granting themselves root privileges within the container. The vulnerability requires the attacker to have command execution capability inside the container and membership in the root group, which is a high privilege level, but does not require further user interaction. The CVSS v3.1 score is 5.2 (medium), reflecting the local attack vector with high attack complexity and privileges required, limited confidentiality impact but high integrity impact, and low availability impact. While the vulnerability does not directly affect the host system, it undermines container isolation and could be leveraged as a stepping stone for further attacks within containerized environments. No known exploits have been reported in the wild as of the publication date. The issue highlights the importance of secure container image build practices and strict permission settings on critical system files within containers.

For European organizations deploying Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization 4, this vulnerability poses a risk of privilege escalation within containerized workloads. Attackers who gain limited access to containers and have root group membership could escalate privileges to root inside the container, potentially compromising application integrity and confidentiality of containerized data. While the vulnerability does not directly compromise the host OS, it weakens container isolation, increasing the risk of lateral movement or further exploitation if combined with other vulnerabilities. Organizations relying heavily on containerized virtualization for critical workloads, especially in sectors like finance, healthcare, and government, could face operational disruptions and data integrity issues. The medium severity rating suggests a moderate but non-trivial risk, emphasizing the need for timely remediation to prevent exploitation in multi-tenant or shared environments common in European cloud and enterprise deployments.

1. Apply patches or updates from Red Hat as soon as they become available to correct the file permission settings during container image builds. 2. Review and harden container image build pipelines to ensure /etc/passwd and other critical system files are created with least-privilege permissions, avoiding group-writable settings. 3. Restrict root group membership within containers to only trusted processes and users, minimizing the attack surface for privilege escalation. 4. Implement runtime security controls and monitoring to detect unauthorized modifications to critical files like /etc/passwd inside containers. 5. Use container security tools that enforce immutability or read-only file systems for sensitive files to prevent unauthorized changes. 6. Conduct regular security audits of container configurations and permissions to identify and remediate misconfigurations proactively. 7. Employ network segmentation and access controls to limit container access to only necessary users and services, reducing the likelihood of an attacker gaining command execution inside containers.