CVE-2025-53882: Critical Vulnerability in openSUSE’s mailman3 Package Leading to Potential Root Escalation

Overview

This post discusses an important cybersecurity vulnerability, identified as CVE-2025-53882, which impacts the openSUSE Tumbleweed operating system, specifically targeting the mailman3 package. This vulnerability revolves around the flawed logrotate configuration in mailman3, which could potentially be exploited to escalate permissions from mailman to root, thereby granting unauthorized users complete control over the affected system.
The severity of this issue underscores the critical importance of continuously monitoring and patching known vulnerabilities in software packages, as failure to do so could lead to system compromise or data leakage. This vulnerability is particularly concerning due to the high CVSS Severity Score of 9.1, indicating its substantial potential for damage if exploited.

Vulnerability Summary

CVE ID: CVE-2025-53882
Severity: Critical (CVSS: 9.1)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Impact: System compromise or data leakage

Affected Products

Product | Affected Versions

openSUSE | Tumbleweed: ? – 3.3.10-2.1

How the Exploit Works

The exploit takes advantage of a flaw in the logrotate configuration of the mailman3 package in openSUSE. By relying on untrusted inputs in a security decision, an attacker can manipulate these inputs to gain unauthorized access. More specifically, an attacker might inject malicious commands or scripts, which the system would execute with root privileges due to the flawed logrotate configuration, leading to an elevation of privileges from mailman to root.

Conceptual Example Code

Below is a conceptual example of how this vulnerability might be exploited. This example does not represent an actual exploit, but illustrates the potential misuse of untrusted inputs.

#!/bin/bash
# Malicious script injected as an untrusted input
echo "Injecting payload into logrotate configuration"
echo "/path/to/malicious/script" >> /etc/logrotate.d/mailman3
echo "Triggering logrotate to execute payload with root privileges"
/usr/sbin/logrotate /etc/logrotate.conf

This script injects a path to a malicious script into the logrotate configuration for the mailman3 package. When the logrotate process runs (which, in a typical setup, would occur daily), it would execute the malicious script with root privileges, leading to a potential system compromise.
To mitigate this vulnerability, users are urged to apply the vendor-supplied patch or use a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) as temporary mitigation measures. However, temporary measures can only provide limited protection and applying the patch remains the most effective solution.