📄 Description (English)
A container privilege escalation flaw was found in certain Web Terminal images. This issue stems from the /etc/passwd file being created with group-writable permissions during build time. In certain conditions, an attacker who can execute commands within an affected container, even as a non-root user, can leverage their membership in the root group to modify the /etc/passwd file. This could allow the attacker to add a new user with any arbitrary UID, including UID 0, leading to full root privileges within the container.
🤖 AI Executive Summary
CVE-2025-57853 is a container privilege escalation vulnerability affecting Web Terminal images where /etc/passwd is created with group-writable permissions during build time. Non-root users who are members of the root group can modify /etc/passwd to create arbitrary users with UID 0, achieving full root privileges within containers. With no patch currently available and no public exploits, this represents a medium-risk vulnerability requiring immediate compensating controls in containerized environments.
📄 Description (Arabic)
🤖 AI Intelligence Analysis Analyzed: May 14, 2026 03:41
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia Impact Assessment
Saudi organizations using containerized Web Terminal deployments face significant risk, particularly in: (1) Government agencies (NCA, CITC) running containerized administrative tools; (2) Banking sector (SAMA-regulated institutions) using container orchestration for digital services; (3) Healthcare providers (MOH) deploying containerized telemedicine platforms; (4) Energy sector (Saudi Aramco, SEC) utilizing containers for operational technology monitoring; (5) Telecommunications (STC, Mobily) running containerized network management systems. The vulnerability is particularly critical for organizations with shared container environments where non-root users may have group membership in root groups.
🏢 Affected Saudi Sectors
Government
Banking
Healthcare
Energy
Telecommunications
Cloud Service Providers
🎯 MITRE ATT&CK Techniques
T1548.002 - Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism: Bypass User Account Control
T1548.004 - Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism: Elevated Execution with Prompt
T1134.003 - Access Token Manipulation: Make and Impersonate Token
T1547.001 - Boot or Logon Initialization Scripts: Logon Script (Linux)
T1136.001 - Create Account: Local Account
T1543.002 - Create or Modify System Process: Systemd Service
⚖️ Saudi Risk Score (AI)
6.8
/ 10.0
🔧 Remediation Steps (English)
Immediate Actions:
1. Audit all Web Terminal container images in use and identify those with group-writable /etc/passwd permissions
2. Review container build processes and Dockerfiles to identify vulnerable image creation patterns
3. Implement container runtime security policies to restrict group membership modifications
Compensating Controls (until patch available):
1. Rebuild affected container images with /etc/passwd created with 0644 permissions (non-group-writable)
2. Implement Pod Security Standards (PSS) or Pod Security Policies (PSP) to enforce read-only root filesystems
3. Use securityContext in Kubernetes deployments: readOnlyRootFilesystem: true, runAsNonRoot: true
4. Deploy runtime security tools (Falco, Sysdig) to detect /etc/passwd modification attempts
5. Restrict container execution to specific UIDs/GIDs, preventing root group membership for non-root users
6. Implement network segmentation to limit lateral movement from compromised containers
Detection Rules:
1. Monitor for open() syscalls targeting /etc/passwd with write flags from non-root processes
2. Alert on any modification to /etc/passwd file permissions or content
3. Track process execution with UID 0 spawned from non-root parent processes
4. Monitor group membership changes within containers
🔧 خطوات المعالجة (العربية)
الإجراءات الفورية:
1. تدقيق جميع صور حاويات Web Terminal المستخدمة وتحديد تلك التي تحتوي على أذونات /etc/passwd قابلة للكتابة من المجموعة
2. مراجعة عمليات بناء الحاويات و Dockerfiles لتحديد أنماط إنشاء الصور الضعيفة
3. تنفيذ سياسات أمان وقت تشغيل الحاويات لتقييد تعديلات عضوية المجموعة
الضوابط التعويضية (حتى توفر التصحيح):
1. إعادة بناء صور الحاويات المتأثرة مع إنشاء /etc/passwd برمز 0644 (غير قابل للكتابة من المجموعة)
2. تنفيذ معايير أمان Pod (PSS) أو سياسات أمان Pod (PSP) لفرض أنظمة ملفات الجذر للقراءة فقط
3. استخدام securityContext في نشرات Kubernetes: readOnlyRootFilesystem: true, runAsNonRoot: true
4. نشر أدوات أمان وقت التشغيل (Falco, Sysdig) للكشف عن محاولات تعديل /etc/passwd
5. تقييد تنفيذ الحاويات على UIDs/GIDs محددة، منع عضوية مجموعة الجذر للمستخدمين غير الجذر
6. تنفيذ تقسيم الشبكة لتحديد الحركة الجانبية من الحاويات المخترقة
قواعد الكشف:
1. مراقبة استدعاءات open() syscalls التي تستهدف /etc/passwd برايات الكتابة من عمليات غير جذر
2. تنبيهات على أي تعديل لأذونات أو محتوى ملف /etc/passwd
3. تتبع تنفيذ العملية مع UID 0 المنبثقة من عمليات الوالد غير الجذر
4. مراقبة تغييرات عضوية المجموعة داخل الحاويات
📋 Regulatory Compliance Mapping
🟢 NCA ECC 2024
ECC 2024 A.5.1.1 - Access Control Policies (container privilege management)
ECC 2024 A.8.1.1 - User Endpoint Devices (container runtime security)
ECC 2024 A.8.2.1 - Privileged Access Rights (preventing unauthorized privilege escalation)
ECC 2024 A.12.4.1 - Event Logging (detecting /etc/passwd modifications)
🔵 SAMA CSF
SAMA CSF ID.AM-2 - Asset Management (container image inventory and vulnerability tracking)
SAMA CSF PR.AC-1 - Access Control (enforcing least privilege in containers)
SAMA CSF PR.AC-4 - Access Rights (managing container user permissions)
SAMA CSF DE.CM-1 - Detection Processes (monitoring for privilege escalation attempts)
🟡 ISO 27001:2022
ISO 27001:2022 A.5.2 - Information Security Policies (container security requirements)
ISO 27001:2022 A.8.2 - User Access Management (controlling container user privileges)
ISO 27001:2022 A.8.3 - User Responsibilities (preventing unauthorized privilege escalation)
ISO 27001:2022 A.12.4 - Logging (detecting and recording privilege escalation attempts)