August 2025 Linux Patch Roundup

August 2025 Linux Patch Roundup

Summary

In August 2025, the Linux ecosystem addressed over 1900 vulnerabilities across major distributions including Debian, Red Hat, OpenSUSE, and Ubuntu. More than 1305 new vulnerabilities were discovered and patched, ranging from information disclosure and cross-site scripting (XSS) to privilege escalation and remote code execution. HiveForce Labs identified 13 severe vulnerabilities that are either actively exploited or have high exploitation potential, requiring immediate patching to ensure protection.

Vulnerability Details

The vulnerabilities span multiple categories including privilege escalation, denial of service, information disclosure, authentication bypass, and remote code execution. Key notable CVEs include:

• CVE-2019-11135 (ZombieLoad v2) – An Intel processor speculative execution flaw via TSX Asynchronous Abort (TAA) that leaks sensitive data. Still unfixed in EOL Debian Jessie Xen hypervisors, posing permanent risk.

• CVE-2019-19338 – An incomplete fix for ZombieLoad v2 affecting Cascade Lake CPUs with TSX enabled.

• CVE-2020-11022 (jQuery XSS) – Cross-site scripting vulnerability in jQuery impacting multiple Linux distributions.

• CVE-2022-2586 (Linux Kernel Use-After-Free) – Privilege escalation bug under active exploitation in Linux kernel.

• CVE-2025-23266 (NVIDIAScape) – Critical NVIDIA Container Toolkit flaw enabling container escape, privilege escalation, and full server compromise, especially dangerous in AI cloud environments.

• CVE-2025-54424 (fit2cloud 1Panel RCE) – Remote code execution vulnerability compromising Linux management services.

• CVE-2025-6018 & CVE-2025-6019 – Privilege escalation vulnerabilities in PAM modules, which can be chained to achieve root access.

• CVE-2025-46811 (SUSE Manager RCE) – Network-based remote code execution flaw targeting SUSE Manager servers.

• CVE-2025-49125 (Apache Tomcat Auth Bypass) – Unauthorized access vulnerability enabling attackers to bypass authentication controls.

Recommendations

1. Decommission EOL Software – Avoid running unsupported platforms like Debian Jessie with Xen to reduce permanent risk exposure.

2. Harden Configurations – Disable TSX on Intel hosts, apply strict OCI runtime configurations, and secure authentication in PAM and container systems.

3. Principle of Least Privilege – Enforce minimal privileges for operators in Vault, 1Panel, and SUSE Manager to limit escalation potential.

4. Server Hardening – Disable unnecessary services, apply strict file system permissions, validate uploads, and implement secure defaults.

5. Security Monitoring & Logging – Enable logging for privilege changes, PAM activity, abnormal container behavior, and network anomalies.

6. System Isolation – Immediately isolate affected workloads or containers to prevent further spread.

7. Deploy Network Traffic Analysis – Continuously monitor traffic for anomalies such as unusual SSH connections or exfiltration attempts.

MITRE ATT&CK TTPs

• Privilege Escalation – Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068), Dynamic Linker Hijacking (T1574.006), Malicious Image Execution (T1204.003)

• Execution & Initial Access – Exploitation for Client Execution (T1203), Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190)

• Impact – Endpoint Denial of Service (T1499)

• Collection & Credential Theft – Input Capture (T1056), Data from Local System (T1005)

• Container Exploits – Deploy Container (T1610), Container Escape through NVIDIA Toolkit

References

• Intel Security Advisory – ZombieLoad v2

• Debian Security Tracker – CVE-2019-11135

• Ubuntu Security Notice – CVE-2022-2586

• Red Hat Security Advisory – CVE-2025-23266

• SUSE Security Advisory – CVE-2025-46811

• HashiCorp Vault Security Notices

• Exploit DB – CVE-2019-19338

• Wiz.io Blog – NVIDIA CVE-2025-23266