Overview
The cybersecurity landscape is populated with a myriad of threats, vulnerabilities, and exploits. Among these is the CVE-2025-4802, a vulnerability in GNU C Library versions 2.27 to 2.38. This vulnerability could potentially allow an attacker to compromise your system or leak critical data. It’s a serious concern for organizations that utilize statically compiled setuid binaries in their systems, which are prone to this exploitation.
The CVE-2025-4802 vulnerability matters because it can lead to unauthorized access to sensitive data, disruption of service, or even complete system compromise. As such, understanding this vulnerability and how to mitigate it forms a crucial part of an organization’s cybersecurity strategy.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-4802
Severity: High (7.8 CVSS Score)
Attack Vector: Local
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: Required
Impact: Potential system compromise or data leakage
Affected Products
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Product | Affected Versions
GNU C Library | 2.27 to 2.38
How the Exploit Works
The vulnerability exists due to the way GNU C Library handles the LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable. An attacker can manipulate this variable to control the loading of a dynamically shared library in statically compiled setuid binaries that call dlopen. This includes internal dlopen calls after setlocale or calls to NSS functions such as getaddrinfo. As a result, the attacker could execute arbitrary code on the system with the privileges of the user running the affected application.
Conceptual Example Code
The below pseudocode illustrates how the vulnerability might be exploited:
# Attacker sets the LD_LIBRARY_PATH to their malicious library
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/path/to/attacker/library
# Attacker runs the setuid binary that loads a library using dlopen
./vulnerable_binaryIn this example, the vulnerable_binary would load the attacker’s library instead of the intended one, leading to the execution of the attacker’s code.
It’s crucial to note that this is a simplified representation. The real-world exploitation of this vulnerability could be complex and depends on various factors, including the specific configuration and usage of the affected system.