CVE-2025-4437

CVE-2025-4437 is a medium-severity vulnerability with a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.7. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-770.

Key facts

Description

There's a vulnerability in the CRI-O application where when container is launched with securityContext.runAsUser specifying a non-existent user, CRI-O attempts to create the user, reading the container's entire /etc/passwd file into memory. If this file is excessively large, it can cause the a high memory consumption leading applications to be killed due to out-of-memory. As a result a denial-of-service can be achieved, possibly disrupting other pods and services running in the same host.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-4437?
There's a vulnerability in the CRI-O application where when container is launched with securityContext.runAsUser specifying a non-existent user, CRI-O attempts to create the user, reading the container's entire /etc/passwd file into memory. If this file is excessively large, it can cause the a high memory consumption leading applications to be killed due to out-of-memory. As a result a denial-of-service can be achieved, possibly disrupting other pods and services running in the same host.
How severe is CVE-2025-4437?
CVE-2025-4437 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.7, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires low privileges and user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.
Is CVE-2025-4437 being actively exploited?
It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (13th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How do I fix CVE-2025-4437?
Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.
Does CVE-2025-4437 have an EU (EUVD) identifier?
Yes. CVE-2025-4437 is tracked in the ENISA EU Vulnerability Database (EUVD) as EUVD-2025-28020.
When was CVE-2025-4437 published?
CVE-2025-4437 was published on 2025-08-20 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

Other CWE-770 (Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling) vulnerabilities

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