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CVE-2025-4437

MEDIUMCVSS 5.7/10EPSS 0.22%

Last modified

CVE-2025-4437 is a medium-severity vulnerability rated 5.7/10 on the CVSS scale. There's a vulnerability in the CRI-O application where when container is launched with securityContext.runAsUser specifying a non-existent user, CRI-O attempts to create the user, reading the container's entire /etc/passwd file into memory. If this file is excessively large, it can cause the a high memory consumption leading applications to be killed due to out-of-memory. EPSS estimates a 0.22% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

Description

There's a vulnerability in the CRI-O application where when container is launched with securityContext.runAsUser specifying a non-existent user, CRI-O attempts to create the user, reading the container's entire /etc/passwd file into memory. If this file is excessively large, it can cause the a high memory consumption leading applications to be killed due to out-of-memory. As a result a denial-of-service can be achieved, possibly disrupting other pods and services running in the same host.

Metrics

CVSS 3.1
5.7/10

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

EPSS Probability
0.22%

13.0th percentile

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days. Learn more

Weakness Enumeration

References

Timeline

Published
Last Modified
Status
Deferred

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2025-4437?
There's a vulnerability in the CRI-O application where when container is launched with securityContext.runAsUser specifying a non-existent user, CRI-O attempts to create the user, reading the container's entire /etc/passwd file into memory. If this file is excessively large, it can cause the a high memory consumption leading applications to be killed due to out-of-memory. As a result a denial-of-service can be achieved, possibly disrupting other pods and services running in the same host.
How severe is CVE-2025-4437?
CVE-2025-4437 has a CVSS score of 5.7/10 (MEDIUM severity). The EPSS model estimates a 0.22% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How do I fix CVE-2025-4437?
Check the vendor references and advisories linked above for patched versions and mitigation guidance. You can also run a Strix scan to test if your systems are affected.

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Source: NVD / NIST