#VU109844 Untrusted search path in Glibc - CVE-2025-4802

Vulnerability identifier: #VU109844

Vulnerability risk: Low

CVSSv4.0: 5.9 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Clear]

CVE-ID: CVE-2025-4802

CWE-ID: CWE-426

Exploitation vector: Local

Exploit availability: No

Vulnerable software:
Glibc
Universal components / Libraries / Libraries used by multiple products

Vendor: GNU

Description

The vulnerability allows a local user to escalate privileges on the system.

The vulnerability exists due to usage of an untrusted LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable. A local user can use the LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable to point to a malicious binary and execute arbitrary code with escalated privileges.

The vulnerability affects statically linked setuid binaries that call dlopen (including internal dlopen calls after setlocale or calls to NSS functions such as getaddrinfo).

Mitigation
Install updates from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

Glibc: 2.27 - 2.38.9000

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External links
https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2025/05/16/7
https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2025/05/17/2
https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=32976
https://sourceware.org/cgit/glibc/commit/?id=1e18586c5820e329f741d5c710275e165581380e
https://sourceware.org/cgit/glibc/tree/advisories/GLIBC-SA-2025-0002

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Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

No. This vulnerability can be exploited locally. The attacker should have authentication credentials and successfully authenticate on the system.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.