CVE-2025-7195 — operator-sdk
MEDIUMCVE-2025-7195 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.4) Incorrect Default Permissions vulnerability in github.com/operator-framework/operator-sdk. A fix is available for github.com/operator-framework/operator-sdk — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Operator-sdk: privilege escalation due to incorrect permissions of /etc/passwd
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2025-7195.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2025-7195 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 377,166 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
github.com/operator-framework/operator-sdkReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Go packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Early versions of Operator-SDK provided an insecure method to allow operator containers to run in environments that used a random UID. Operator-SDK before 0.15.2 provided a script, user_setup, which modifies the permissions of the /etc/passwd file to 664 during build time. Developers who used Operator-SDK before 0.15.2 to scaffold their operator may still be impacted by this if the insecure user_setup script is still being used to build new container images.
In affected images, the /etc/passwd file is created during build time with group-writable permissions and a group ownership of root (gid=0). An attacker who can execute commands within an affected container, even as a non-root user, may be able to 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.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/operator-framework/operator-sdk | all versions | 0.15.2go get github.com/operator-framework/operator-sdk@v0.15.2 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/operator-framework/operator-sdk, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update github.com/operator-framework/operator-sdk to 0.15.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2025-7195 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2025-7195 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2025-7195. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Fixing This On Your OS
If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.
Red Hat Product Security has rated this vulnerability as moderate severity for affected products which run on OpenShift. The vulnerability allows for potential privilege escalation within a container, but OpenShift's default, multi-layered security posture effectively mitigates this risk. The primary controls include…
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| RHEL-9-CNV-4.17 | container-native-virtualization/cluster-network-addons-operator-rhel9:v4.17.39-2 | RHEA-2026:0129 |
| RHEL-9-CNV-4.18 | container-native-virtualization/cluster-network-addons-operator-rhel9:v4.18.25-3 | RHEA-2025:23478 |
| RHEL-9-CNV-4.20 | container-native-virtualization/cluster-network-addons-operator-rhel9:v4.20.3-3 | RHEA-2025:23406 |
| Compliance Operator 1 | compliance/openshift-compliance-rhel8-operator:1.8.0 | RHSA-2025:21885 |
| Compliance Operator 1 | compliance/openshift-compliance-rhel8-operator:1768172669 | RHSA-2026:0737 |
| multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.6 | multicluster-engine/addon-manager-rhel9:v2.6 | RHSA-2025:23528 |
| multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.7 | multicluster-engine/addon-manager-rhel9:v2.7 | RHSA-2025:19958 |
| multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.7 | multicluster-engine/addon-manager-rhel9:v2.7 | RHSA-2025:22683 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2025-7195 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2025-7195 across Go dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.