CVE-2025-57852: Red Hat OpenShift AI 2.16 · Incorrect Default Permissions
Affects Red Hat OpenShift AI 2.16Source CVE Database V5
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.4 Medium.
Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 09:08 UTC
- EPSS
- 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 4% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 30 Sep 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift AI 2.16 | Affected
| Fixed in– |
AI-suggested
To mitigate this vulnerability, organizations should: 1) Apply any available patches or updates from Red Hat for OpenShift AI 2.16 and KServe ModelMesh container images as soon as they are released. 2) Review and harden container image build processes to ensure that critical system files such as /etc/passwd are created with secure, non-group-writable permissions. 3) Limit membership of the root group within containers to only trusted processes and users to reduce the risk of privilege escalation. 4) Implement strict container runtime security policies that restrict command execution capabilities and group memberships. 5) Employ container security tools to scan images for insecure file permissions and configurations before deployment. 6) Monitor container environments for unusual modifications to system files and privilege escalation attempts. 7) Consider using container security features such as SELinux, AppArmor, or seccomp profiles to limit the impact of potential exploits. 8) Educate development and operations teams on secure container image creation and privilege management best practices. These steps will reduce the attack surface and help prevent exploitation of this vulnerability.
Description
A container privilege escalation flaw was found in KServe ModelMesh container images. This issue stems from the /etc/passwd file being created with group-writable permissions during build time. In certain conditions, an attacker who can execute commands within an affected container, even as a non-root user, can leverage their membership in the root group to modify the /etc/passwd file. This could allow the attacker to add a new user with any arbitrary UID, including UID 0, leading to full root privileges within the container.
References
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:16981 (opens in a new tab)
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:16982 (opens in a new tab)
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:16983 (opens in a new tab)
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:16984 (opens in a new tab)
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:17501 (opens in a new tab)
- access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-57852 (opens in a new tab)
- bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2391105 (opens in a new tab)