Vulnerability Description
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.
CVSS Score
MEDIUM
Related Weaknesses (CWE)
References
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-14282
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2420052
- https://github.com/mkj/dropbear/pull/391
- https://github.com/mkj/dropbear/pull/394
- https://lists.ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au/pipermail/dropbear/2025q4/002390.html
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2025/12/16/4
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2025/12/17/1
FAQ
What is CVE-2025-14282?
CVE-2025-14282 is a vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.4 (MEDIUM). 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 th...
How severe is CVE-2025-14282?
CVE-2025-14282 has been rated MEDIUM with a CVSS base score of 5.4/10. Review the CVSS metrics above for detailed severity breakdown.
Is there a patch for CVE-2025-14282?
Check the references section above for vendor advisories and patch information. Review vendor security bulletins for remediation guidance.