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.
History

Wed, 20 Aug 2025 16:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}


Wed, 20 Aug 2025 12:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description No description is available for this CVE. 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.
Title cri-o: Large /etc/passwd file may lead to Denial of Service Cri-o: large /etc/passwd file may lead to denial of service
First Time appeared Redhat
Redhat openshift
CPEs cpe:/a:redhat:openshift:4
Vendors & Products Redhat
Redhat openshift
References

Fri, 27 Jun 2025 00:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description No description is available for this CVE.
Title cri-o: Large /etc/passwd file may lead to Denial of Service
Weaknesses CWE-770
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

cvssV3_1

{'score': 5.7, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}

threat_severity

Moderate


cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: redhat

Published: 2025-08-20T12:19:18.453Z

Updated: 2025-08-20T15:15:46.773Z

Reserved: 2025-05-08T15:35:44.324Z

Link: CVE-2025-4437

cve-icon Vulnrichment

Updated: 2025-08-20T15:15:41.508Z

cve-icon NVD

Status : Awaiting Analysis

Published: 2025-08-20T13:15:28.673

Modified: 2025-08-20T14:39:07.860

Link: CVE-2025-4437

cve-icon Redhat

Severity : Moderate

Publid Date: 2025-06-26T00:00:00Z

Links: CVE-2025-4437 - Bugzilla