Overview
The CVE-2025-3931 is a serious vulnerability found in Yggdrasil, a system broker that allows processes to communicate with other “worker” processes via the DBus component. This flaw in Yggdrasil’s DBus method can create a substantial risk for systems that utilize its capabilities. Given its widespread use in system processes, it could potentially affect a significant number of users. A successful exploit of this vulnerability can lead to local privilege escalation and give an attacker the ability to install arbitrary RPM packages, which could, in turn, lead to system compromise and data leakage.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-3931
Severity: High (7.8 CVSS Score)
Attack Vector: Local
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Impact: Local privilege escalation leading to potential system compromise or data leakage
Affected Products
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Product | Affected Versions
Yggdrasil | All versions prior to patched release
How the Exploit Works
The flaw lies within Yggdrasil’s DBus method that dispatches messages to worker processes. The method lacks necessary authentication and authorization checks, allowing any system user to call it. An attacker with access to the system can exploit this vulnerability by sending a dispatch message to the Yggdrasil worker process which acts as a package manager. This can force Yggdrasil to install arbitrary RPM packages, leading to local privilege escalation. The attacker can then access and modify sensitive system data.
Conceptual Example Code
This is a conceptual example of how the vulnerability might be exploited using a shell command:
dbus-send --system --dest=com.example.Yggdrasil --type=method_call \
/com/example/Yggdrasil com.example.Yggdrasil.InstallPackage \
string:"malicious_package.rpm"In this example, the `dbus-send` command is used to send a method call to the Yggdrasil service. The `InstallPackage` method is invoked with the name of an arbitrary RPM package, `malicious_package.rpm`, as an argument.
Mitigation
Users are advised to apply the vendor’s patch as soon as it becomes available. In the meantime, a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can be used as temporary mitigation. Proper authorization and authentication checks should be implemented on the Yggdrasil DBus method to prevent unauthorized access.