CVE-2025-14282
Dropbear: privilege escalation via unix domain socket forwardings
A flaw was found in Dropbear. When running in multi-user mode and authenticating users, the dropbear ssh server does the socket forwardings requested by the remote client as root, only switching to the logged-in user upon spawning a shell or performing some operations like reading the user's files. With the recent ability of also using unix domain sockets as the forwarding destination any user able to log in via ssh can connect to any unix socket with the root's credentials, bypassing both file system restrictions and any SO_PEERCRED / SO_PASSCRED checks performed by the peer.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- Low
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
5.4
Dropbear: privilege escalation via unix domain socket forwardings
A flaw was found in Dropbear. When running in multi-user mode and authenticating users, the dropbear ssh server does the socket forwardings requested by the remote client as root, only switching to the logged-in user upon spawning a shell or performing some operations like reading the user's files. With the recent ability of also using unix domain sockets as the forwarding destination any user able to log in via ssh can connect to any unix socket with the root's credentials, bypassing both file system restrictions and any SO_PEERCRED / SO_PASSCRED checks performed by the peer.
- Record
CVE-2025-14282- CVSS 3.1
- 5.4 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-266
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2025-207001
5.4
A flaw was found in Dropbear. When running in multi-user mode and authenticating users, the dropbear ssh server does the socket forwardings requested by the remote client as root, only switching to the logged-in user upon spawning a shell or performing some operations like reading the user's files. With the recent ability of also using unix domain sockets as the forwarding destination any user able to log in via ssh can connect to any unix socket with the root's credentials, bypassing both file system restrictions and any SO_PEERCRED / SO_PASSCRED checks performed by the peer.
- Record
EUVD-2025-207001- CVSS 3.1
- 5.4 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-xqcm-jrw9-wq72
5.4
A flaw was found in Dropbear. When running in multi-user mode and authenticating users, the...
A flaw was found in Dropbear. When running in multi-user mode and authenticating users, the dropbear ssh server does the socket forwardings requested by the remote client as root, only switching to the logged-in user upon spawning a shell or performing some operations like reading the user's files. With the recent ability of also using unix domain sockets as the forwarding destination any user able to log in via ssh can connect to any unix socket with the root's credentials, bypassing both file system restrictions and any SO_PEERCRED / SO_PASSCRED checks performed by the peer.
- Record
GHSA-xqcm-jrw9-wq72- CVSS 3.1
- 5.4 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-266
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
5.4
A flaw was found in Dropbear. When running in multi-user mode and authenticating users, the dropbear ssh server does the socket forwardings requested by the remote client as root, only switching to the logged-in user upon spawning a shell or performing some operations like reading the user's files. With the recent ability of also using unix domain sockets as the forwarding destination any user able to log in via ssh can connect to any unix socket with the root's credentials, bypassing both file system restrictions and any SO_PEERCRED / SO_PASSCRED checks performed by the peer.
- Record
CVE-2025-14282- CVSS 3.1
- 5.4 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-266
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVALPINE-CVE-2025-14282
5.4
A flaw was found in Dropbear. When running in multi-user mode and authenticating users, the dropbear ssh server does the socket forwardings requested by the remote client as root, only switching to the logged-in user upon spawning a shell or performing some operations like reading the user's files. With the recent ability of also using unix domain sockets as the forwarding destination any user able to log in via ssh can connect to any unix socket with the root's credentials, bypassing both file system restrictions and any SO_PEERCRED / SO_PASSCRED checks performed by the peer.
- Record
ALPINE-CVE-2025-14282- CVSS 3.1
- 5.4 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
5.4
Dropbear: privilege escalation via unix domain socket forwardings
A flaw was found in Dropbear. When running in multi-user mode and authenticating users, the dropbear ssh server does the socket forwardings requested by the remote client as root, only switching to the logged-in user upon spawning a shell or performing some operations like reading the user's files. With the recent ability of also using unix domain sockets as the forwarding destination any user able to log in via ssh can connect to any unix socket with the root's credentials, bypassing both file system restrictions and any SO_PEERCRED / SO_PASSCRED checks performed by the peer.
- Record
CVE-2025-14282- CVSS 3.1
- 5.4 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-266
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2025-14282
5.4
A flaw was found in Dropbear. When running in multi-user mode and authenticating users, the dropbear ssh server does the socket forwardings requested by the remote client as root, only switching to the logged-in user upon spawning a shell or performing some operations like reading the user's files. With the recent ability of also using unix domain sockets as the forwarding destination any user able to log in via ssh can connect to any unix socket with the root's credentials, bypassing both file system restrictions and any SO_PEERCRED / SO_PASSCRED checks performed by the peer.
- Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2025-14282- CVSS 3.1
- 5.4 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2025-14282
5.4
A flaw was found in Dropbear. When running in multi-user mode and authenticating users, the dropbear ssh server does the socket forwardings requested by the remote client as root, only switching to the logged-in user upon spawning a shell or performing some operations like reading the user's files. With the recent ability of also using unix domain sockets as the forwarding destination any user able to log in via ssh can connect to any unix socket with the root's credentials, bypassing both file system restrictions and any SO_PEERCRED / SO_PASSCRED checks performed by the peer.
- Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2025-14282- CVSS 3.1
- 5.4 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
dropbearAlpine:v3.24 |
before 2025.89-r0 | 2025.89-r0 |
dropbearDebian:13 |
before 2025.89-1~deb13u1, plus listed versions 2025.88-2 |
2025.89-1~deb13u1 |
dropbearDebian:14 |
before 2025.89-1, plus listed versions 2025.88-22025.89-1~deb13u1 |
2025.89-1 |
dropbearUbuntu:16.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 2014.65-1ubuntu22015.68-12015.70-12015.71-12016.72-1 |
None known |
dropbearUbuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 2017.75-22017.75-3build12017.75-3ubuntu0.1~esm1 |
None known |
dropbearUbuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 2019.78-2build12019.78-2ubuntu0.1~esm1 |
None known |
dropbearUbuntu:22.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 2020.81-32020.81-42020.81-52020.81-5ubuntu0.1 |
None known |
dropbearUbuntu:24.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 2022.83-22022.83-32022.83-4 |
None known |
dropbearUbuntu:25.10 |
All versions, plus listed versions 2024.86-22025.88-2 |
None known |
dropbearUbuntu:26.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 2025.88-22025.89-1 |
None known |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| first indexed | CVE List, EUVD, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2025-14282 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 5.4) in Https://github.com/mkj/dropbear/ Dropbear, published December 19, 2025. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.40%, the 35th percentile. Fixed in dropbear 2025.89-r0.
References
access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-14282
bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2420052
github.com/mkj/dropbear/pull/391
github.com/mkj/dropbear/pull/394
lists.ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au/pipermail/dropbear/2025q4/002390.html
openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2025/12/16/4
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openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2025/12/17/1
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-14282
github.com/advisories/GHSA-xqcm-jrw9-wq72
security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2025-14282
github.com/mkj/dropbear
github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2025/14xxx/CVE-2025-14282.json
security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2025-14282
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-14282
cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-14282