Overview
CVE-2025-55055 is a security vulnerability categorized as an OS Command Injection flaw. This vulnerability, assigned a severity rating of MEDIUM, allows attackers to inject and execute arbitrary operating system commands on a vulnerable system. This article provides a comprehensive analysis of CVE-2025-55055, including its technical details, potential impact, and recommended mitigation strategies.
Technical Details
The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2025-55055, stems from Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command (CWE-78). Specifically, the application fails to properly sanitize user-supplied input before passing it to a system command. This allows an attacker to insert malicious commands that will be executed with the privileges of the application.
For example, if a web application uses user input to construct a command line instruction without proper validation, an attacker might be able to inject additional commands. Consider this simplified, vulnerable PHP example:
<?php
$filename = $_GET["filename"];
$command = "ls -l " . $filename; // Vulnerable: $filename is not sanitized
system($command);
?>
An attacker could then access sensitive files by exploiting this. The attacker provides the following string for filename "; cat /etc/passwd #". The shell interprets this as running ls -l "; cat /etc/passwd #". Because ; separates commands on most systems, and the # comments out anything after, the attacker can read the file /etc/passwd
CVSS Analysis
The Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) assigns CVE-2025-55055 a score of 6.8, indicating a MEDIUM severity. The CVSS vector likely factors in elements like:
- Attack Vector (AV): Network (Likely)
- Attack Complexity (AC): Low (Likely)
- Privileges Required (PR): None (Likely) – depending on the context, this may require some privilege.
- User Interaction (UI): None (Likely)
- Scope (S): Changed (Likely) – An attacker may be able to use this exploit to control the machine, not just affect the target application.
- Confidentiality Impact (C): High
- Integrity Impact (I): High
- Availability Impact (A): High
This score reflects the relative ease of exploiting the vulnerability remotely and the significant potential impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected system.
Possible Impact
Successful exploitation of CVE-2025-55055 can have severe consequences:
- Data Breach: Attackers can access sensitive data stored on the compromised system.
- System Compromise: Attackers can gain complete control of the system, allowing them to install malware, modify system configurations, or use the system as a launching point for further attacks.
- Denial of Service (DoS): Attackers can disrupt the availability of the system by executing commands that consume resources or shut down critical services.
- Lateral Movement: Attackers may be able to leverage the compromised system to access other systems on the network.
Mitigation and Patch Steps
To mitigate the risk associated with CVE-2025-55055, the following steps are recommended:
- Input Validation: Implement strict input validation to sanitize all user-supplied data before it is used in system commands. Use whitelists to allow only known-good characters and reject anything else. Avoid using blacklists which can often be bypassed.
- Parameterization or escaping When possible, use API features that properly handle escaping of external parameters.
- Principle of Least Privilege: Ensure that the application runs with the minimum privileges necessary to perform its intended functions. This limits the damage an attacker can cause if they successfully exploit the vulnerability.
- Regular Security Audits: Conduct regular security audits and penetration testing to identify and address potential vulnerabilities.
- Patching: Apply the security patch or update provided by the vendor as soon as it becomes available. This is the most effective way to address the vulnerability. Monitor the vendor’s security advisories for updates.
- Web Application Firewall (WAF): Consider using a Web Application Firewall (WAF) to detect and block malicious requests attempting to exploit this vulnerability.
