Overview
CVE-2025-41240 is a serious cybersecurity vulnerability concerning Bitnami Helm charts. These charts, when deployed with specific default settings, can expose Kubernetes Secrets under a predictable path, potentially susceptible to HTTP/S exploits. This vulnerability is of significant concern to organizations using Bitnami Helm charts for orchestrating their Kubernetes application deployments, as an attacker could potentially gain unauthenticated access to sensitive credentials. The risk is exacerbated if the application is exposed externally, making this a critical concern for cloud-based deployments.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-41240
Severity: Critical (10.0 CVSS Score)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Impact: Potential system compromise or data leakage, unauthorized access to sensitive credentials.
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Product | Affected Versions
Bitnami Helm Charts | All versions prior to the patch
How the Exploit Works
The exploit takes advantage of the predictable path (/opt/bitnami/*/secrets) under which Kubernetes Secrets are mounted by Bitnami Helm charts. If the application is exposed externally and the default setting of usePasswordFiles=true is used, these secrets become accessible via HTTP/S. This means a remote attacker could retrieve these secrets by simply accessing specific URLs, achieving unauthenticated access to sensitive credentials and potentially leading to system compromise or data leakage.
Conceptual Example Code
An attacker might exploit this vulnerability using a simple HTTP GET request, like the following example:
GET /opt/bitnami/app/secrets HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.comIn response to such a request, the server could potentially expose sensitive Kubernetes Secrets in plaintext, which the attacker could then use to gain unauthorized access or perform other malicious activities.
Mitigation and Patching
To mitigate this vulnerability, users are advised to apply the vendor-provided patch as soon as possible. As a temporary measure, a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can be used to identify and block attempts to exploit this vulnerability. However, these systems merely provide a stopgap solution and don’t address the root cause of the vulnerability. As such, application of the patch remains the most effective resolution method.