Which versions of Puppet Enterprise are affected by CVE-2025-5459?

CVE-2025-5459 presents significant security risk, a OS command injection vulnerability rated CVSS 8.8.. A patch is available.

How to fix or mitigate CVE-2025-5459?

Within 7 days: Identify all affected systems and apply vendor patches promptly. Validate that input sanitization is in place for all user-controlled parameters.

Puppet Enterprise CVE-2025-5459

Q: What is the CVSS score of CVE-2025-5459?

CVE-2025-5459 has a CVSS 4.0 base score of 8.6 (High). CVSS vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X. EPSS exploitation probability: 0.1%.

EUVD-2025-19173 HIGH

OS Command Injection (CWE-78)

2025-06-26 security@puppet.com

Command Injection Puppet Enterprise

8.6

CVSS 4.0 · Vendor: puppet

Severity by source

Vendor (puppet) PRIMARY

8.6 HIGH

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

vuln.today AI

9.1 CRITICAL

PR:H for required node-group edit permission; S:C because Puppet primary root access directly enables configuration-plane compromise of all managed nodes.

3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

4.0 AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H

Primary rating from Vendor (puppet).

CVSS VectorVendor: puppet

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

High

User Interaction

None

Scope

Lifecycle Timeline

CVSS changed

Sep 04, 2026 - 02:22 NVD

8.8 (HIGH) 8.6 (HIGH)

Patch released

Mar 31, 2026 - 21:13 nvd

Patch available

EUVD ID Assigned

Mar 15, 2026 - 23:54 euvd

EUVD-2025-19173

Analysis Generated

Mar 15, 2026 - 23:54 vuln.today

CVE Published

Jun 26, 2025 - 07:15 cve.org

HIGH 8.6

CVE Published

Jun 26, 2025 - 07:15 nvd

HIGH 8.8

DescriptionCVE.org

A user with specific node group editing permissions and a specially crafted class parameter could be used to execute commands as root on the primary host. It affects Puppet Enterprise versions 2018.1.8 through 2023.8.3 and 2025.3 and has been resolved in versions 2023.8.4 and 2025.4.0.

AnalysisAI

OS command injection (CWE-78) in Puppet Enterprise allows authenticated users holding node group editing permissions to craft a malicious class parameter that executes arbitrary commands as root on the primary Puppet server. Affected versions span 2018.1.8 through 2023.8.3 and 2025.3; fixed releases 2023.8.4 and 2025.4.0 are available from the vendor. A full-disclosure entry (seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2026/Sep/9) is referenced in the advisory data, suggesting public technical details have been released; EPSS remains low at 0.08% (24th percentile) and the vulnerability is not listed in CISA KEV.

Technical ContextAI

Puppet Enterprise is a commercial IT automation platform built around a Puppet Server (the 'primary host') that compiles configuration catalogs and distributes them to managed nodes via Puppet agents. Node groups - administered through the Puppet Console or its REST API - define which Puppet classes and parameters are applied to sets of nodes. CPE cpe:2.3:a:puppet:puppet_enterprise identifies the affected component. CWE-78 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command) indicates that a user-supplied class parameter value is incorporated into a shell command executed by the Puppet Server process without adequate sanitization. Because the Puppet Server daemon typically runs as root to manage system-level resources and sign certificates, the injection executes with full system privileges on the primary host.

RemediationAI

Upgrade Puppet Enterprise to version 2023.8.4 for the 2023.x branch, or to 2025.4.0 for the 2025.x branch, as confirmed by the vendor advisory at https://portal.perforce.com/s/detail/a91PA000001SiDdYAK. If immediate upgrade is not feasible, audit Puppet Enterprise RBAC role assignments and restrict the node group editing permission exclusively to fully trusted administrative accounts, removing it from DevOps, operator, or delegated roles that do not strictly require it - this raises the privilege threshold required to reach the vulnerable code path. As an additional network-layer control, restrict access to the Puppet Console (typically TCP 443) to a known-good set of administrator workstations or a jump host, reducing the network-reachable attacker population. Neither RBAC restriction nor network segmentation eliminates the vulnerability for accounts that legitimately hold node group editing rights - patching remains the only complete remediation.