7.8

CVE-2025-8941: pam Path Traversal

CVSS: 7.8v3.1HighDeferred
AliasesRHSA-2025:15100RHSA-2025:15101RHSA-2025:15102
Published 13-08-2025Last modified 26-02-2026
Open JSON

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2025-8941 is a high (CVSS 7.8) Path Traversal vulnerability in pam. EPSS estimates a 0.28% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 18.9% of scored vulnerabilities.

Overall risk
31/100
0100
Medium · default modelHow is this calculated?
CVSS score
7.8/10
010
High · v3.1 (CVE.org)
EPSS score
0.28%
0%100%
Low · +0.01 pp in 30 days
KEVNot listedIn no KEV catalog
RansomwareNone recordedNo known use recorded
Public exploits0No public exploits recorded

Advisory lineage

Upstream 0 · Downstream 2
RHSA-2025:14557RHSA-2025:15099

Timeline

  1. 13-08-2025
    PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
  2. 26-02-2026
    Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

A flaw was found in linux-pam. The pam_namespace module may improperly handle user-controlled paths, allowing local users to exploit symlink attacks and race conditions to elevate their privileges to root. This CVE provides a "complete" fix for CVE-2025-6020.

CVSS metrics

5 scores · 5 sources · 1 version

EPSS trend

Probability

0.28%

Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days

Percentile

19%

Versus all other CVEs

30-day change

+0.01 pp

From 0.27% on 19-09-2026

19-09-202619-10-2026
EPSS score
0.28%

Known exploited

Compare KEV catalogs

Not in any of the 3 tracked catalogs.

Public exploits

0 found

No public exploits indexed.

Weaknesses

CWE · root cause

Affected systems

Redhat5 products
  • pam< 0:1.5.1-9.el9_0.3 | < 0:1.5.1-15.el9_2.2 | < 0:1.5.1-24.el9_4.1 | < 0:1.3.1-26.el8_8.2 | < 0:1.3.1-14.el8_4.2 | < 0:1.3.1-16.el8_6.3 | < 0:1.1.8-23.el7_9.2 | < 0:1.3.1-8.el8_2.2
  • pam-debuginfo< 0:1.5.1-9.el9_0.3 | < 0:1.5.1-15.el9_2.2 | < 0:1.5.1-24.el9_4.1 | < 0:1.3.1-26.el8_8.2 | < 0:1.3.1-14.el8_4.2 | < 0:1.3.1-16.el8_6.3 | < 0:1.1.8-23.el7_9.2 | < 0:1.3.1-8.el8_2.2
  • pam-debugsource< 0:1.5.1-9.el9_0.3 | < 0:1.5.1-15.el9_2.2 | < 0:1.5.1-24.el9_4.1 | < 0:1.3.1-26.el8_8.2 | < 0:1.3.1-14.el8_4.2 | < 0:1.3.1-16.el8_6.3 | < 0:1.3.1-8.el8_2.2
  • pam-devel< 0:1.5.1-9.el9_0.3 | < 0:1.5.1-15.el9_2.2 | < 0:1.5.1-24.el9_4.1 | < 0:1.3.1-26.el8_8.2 | < 0:1.3.1-14.el8_4.2 | < 0:1.3.1-16.el8_6.3 | < 0:1.1.8-23.el7_9.2 | < 0:1.3.1-8.el8_2.2
  • pam-docs< 0:1.5.1-9.el9_0.3 | < 0:1.5.1-15.el9_2.2 | < 0:1.5.1-24.el9_4.1
Debian1 product
  • pamAll versions (No fix recorded)
Ubuntu1 product
  • pamAll versions (No fix recorded)

3 vendors · 7 products

References

32 links
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