CVE-2025-14282
Dropbear: privilege escalation via unix domain socket forwardings
No known exploitation. EPSS puts it in the 28th percentile. Only a workaround so far.
What to do
No fixed build is published yet. The vendor describes a workaround.
What it is
From the CVE record
A flaw was found in Dropbear. When running in multi-user mode and authenticating users, the dropbear ssh server does the socket forwardings requested by the remote client as root, only switching to the logged-in user upon spawning a shell or performing some operations like reading the user's files. With the recent ability of also using unix domain sockets as the forwarding destination any user able to log in via ssh can connect to any unix socket with the root's credentials, bypassing both file system restrictions and any SO_PEERCRED / SO_PASSCRED checks performed by the peer.
In plain language
No plain-language summary for this CVE yet.
Exploitation
Where each signal puts this CVE on the scale from published to confirmed exploited.
- CISA KEV
Not in the catalog. CISA has not confirmed exploitation.
- Public exploits
No public exploit or proof of concept found in the sources we track.
- EPSS
0.4% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, which ranks it in the 28th percentile of scored CVEs.
Exploit Prediction Scoring System, FIRST.org. A probability, not a confirmation.
Lifecycle
5 events over 133 days, from the signal feeds we watch.
- OpenVAS check added
- Workaround availablerecord updated
- Publishedweakness classified
Affected products
Technical detail
CVSS 3.1 vector
Open in the CVSS calculatorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
Scored 5.4 by NVD.
How it is reached
- Attack Vector NetworkExploitable remotely over the network without any special conditions
- Attack Complexity LowNo special conditions — the attack can be reliably reproduced
- Privileges Required LowRequires basic user-level privileges
- User Interaction NoneNo user interaction needed — fully automated exploitation
Scope
- Scope UnchangedImpact is limited to the vulnerable component itself
Impact if exploited
- Confidentiality LowSome restricted information is disclosed, but limited in scope
- Integrity LowData modification is possible but limited in scope or consequence
- Availability NoneNo availability impact
Weaknesses
Sources
References in the record
- access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-14282
- bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2420052
- github.com/mkj/dropbear/pull/391
And 4 more references. See all after sign-in
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