CVE-2025-12744: ABRT Daemon Under Attack – Root Privilege Escalation Alert!

Overview

CVE-2025-12744 is a critical vulnerability discovered in the Automatic Bug Reporting Tool (ABRT) daemon. This flaw allows an unprivileged local user to escalate their privileges to root. By exploiting a weakness in how ABRT handles user-supplied mount information, an attacker can inject malicious commands into a shell command executed by the root-running ABRT process, effectively gaining full root access to the system.

Technical Details

The vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of user-controlled data used in the docker inspect %s command within the ABRT daemon. Specifically, ABRT copies up to 12 characters from an untrusted input source and places them directly into this shell command without proper sanitization. This allows an attacker to inject shell metacharacters (e.g., ;, |, &&, ||, `) into the input. By crafting a malicious payload containing these metacharacters followed by attacker-controlled commands, an unprivileged user can force the ABRT process (running as root) to execute arbitrary code, leading to complete system compromise.

For example, an attacker could provide the following malicious input:

; rm -rf /

This would result in ABRT executing:

docker inspect ; rm -rf /

As the ABRT daemon runs with root privileges, this command would be executed as root, potentially wiping the entire file system.

CVSS Analysis

• CVE ID: CVE-2025-12744
• Published: 2025-12-03T09:15:46.390
• Severity: HIGH
• CVSS Score: 8.8
• CVSS Vector: (Analysis based on similar vulnerabilities suggests a possible vector string, but a definitive string requires the specific CVSS calculator outputs) Likely includes: AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H (Local access, low attack complexity, low privileges required, no user interaction, unchanged scope, high confidentiality impact, high integrity impact, high availability impact)

Possible Impact

The exploitation of CVE-2025-12744 can have severe consequences, including:

• Full System Compromise: An attacker gains complete control over the affected system with root privileges.
• Data Theft: Sensitive data can be accessed, modified, or exfiltrated.
• System Disruption: The system can be rendered unusable due to data corruption or denial-of-service attacks.
• Malware Installation: The attacker can install malware, backdoors, or other malicious software.
• Lateral Movement: The compromised system can be used as a pivot point to attack other systems on the network.

Mitigation or Patch Steps

To mitigate the risk of CVE-2025-12744, apply the following steps:

1. Apply the Official Patch: Update the ABRT daemon to the latest version containing the fix for this vulnerability. Consult your distribution’s security advisories for specific patching instructions.
2. Workaround (If Patching is Not Immediately Possible): While not a complete solution, consider restricting access to the ABRT daemon to trusted users only. Carefully review and sanitize any user input before it’s passed to the docker inspect command (although patching is the strongly recommended and ultimately required solution).
3. Monitor for Suspicious Activity: Monitor system logs for any unusual activity related to the ABRT daemon or Docker, especially any attempts to execute unexpected commands.