Vulnerability in Linux Kernel

CVE-2025-4598

A vulnerability was found in systemd-coredump. This flaw allows an attacker to force a SUID process to crash and replace it with a non-SUID binary to access the original's privileged process coredump, allowing the attacker to read sensitive data, such as /etc/shadow content, loaded by the original process. A SUID binary or process has a special type of permission, which allows the process to run with the file owner's permissions, regardless of the user executing the binary. This allows the process to access more restricted data than unprivileged users or processes would be able to. An attacker can leverage this flaw by forcing a SUID process to crash and force the Linux kernel to recycle the process PID before systemd-coredump can analyze the /proc/pid/auxv file. If the attacker wins the race condition, they gain access to the original's SUID process coredump file. They can read sensitive content loaded into memory by the original binary, affecting data confidentiality.

EPSS: 0.008 (55.2th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 4.7 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N.

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-4598?
CVE-2025-4598 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux Kernel, classified under Signal Handler Race Condition. CVSS score: 4.7/10. Published 2025-05-30.
How severe is CVE-2025-4598?
Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 4.7 out of 10.
Is CVE-2025-4598 known to be exploited?
6 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.