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SWUpdate EUVDEUVD-2025-210052

| CVE-2025-41259 HIGH
Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition (CWE-367)
2026-06-03 sba-research GHSA-pmf3-4g49-qvxm
7.3
CVSS 4.0 · Vendor: sba-research
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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Obtain local unprivileged shell on device
  2. Delivery
    Identify SWUpdate staging path
  3. Exploit
    Trigger or wait for signed update
  4. Execution
    Race-replace target directory with symlink
  5. Persist
    SWUpdate as root follows substituted path
  6. Impact
    Execute attacker content or escalate to root

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture TOCTOU prevention
Exploitation Conditions

Requires local shell access on the device as an unprivileged user (CVSS PR:L) plus the ability to manipulate filesystem entries within paths SWUpdate operates on while a signed update is being processed; the AT:P flag reflects that the attacker must win a race against SWUpdate's check/use sequence in swupdate_remove_directory() and related paths. No network exposure and no user interaction by another principal are needed (UI:N), but exploitation is bounded to deployments where SWUpdate runs privileged on shared systems and where unprivileged users can either trigger an update or predict/observe when one will run.

Impact

CVSS 4.0 vector AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N with VC:H/VI:H/VA:H signals local, low-complexity, low-privilege exploitation requiring an attack prerequisite (the race window) and yielding full host compromise - consistent with a classic TOCTOU root escalation on an embedded updater. The AT:P (attack requirements: present) and need to win a race reduce reliability versus a pure logic bug, but the scope is the device root and the threat model explicitly includes untrusted local users who could otherwise only deliver signed bundles. EPSS and KEV data were not provided in the input; absence of KEV and any referenced PoC suggests this is not currently mass-exploited, but the impact ceiling (sign-check bypass on devices that rely on SWUpdate as a security boundary) makes it a priority fix for any product that exposes update functionality to lower-privileged users or processes.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

A local unprivileged user on an embedded Linux device with SWUpdate installed initiates a legitimate signed update and, during the brief window between SWUpdate validating/staging files and acting on them, swaps a staging directory with a symlink or attacker-controlled path. SWUpdate, running as root, then executes scripts or removes/writes content along the substituted path, yielding root execution or installation of untrusted content despite the bundle signature check.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Why: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9).
Patch available 0.0% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Jun 03, 2026

Local privilege escalation in SWUpdate versions before 2026.05 allows unprivileged users to gain root or install attacker-controlled content by winning a TOCTOU race during processing of a signed update. The flaw, reported by SBA Research and tracked as EUVD-2025-210052, undermines SWUpdate's signed-update integrity model on embedded Linux devices. No public exploit identified at time of analysis, but an upstream patch is available via commit f4bd6426.

RemediationAI

Vendor-released patch: upgrade SWUpdate to 2026.05 or later, which incorporates the fix from upstream commit https://github.com/sbabic/swupdate/commit/f4bd64260e233e207354d68d572b1cbc3e63689d adding stat() and S_ISDIR() validation in swupdate_remove_directory(). Device vendors that cannot immediately rebase should cherry-pick that commit into their fork and rebuild affected firmware images. As compensating controls until the patched binary is deployed, restrict who can invoke SWUpdate or write into its working/staging directories to root-only (tight filesystem ACLs and removing any setuid/sudoers entries that let unprivileged users trigger updates), and where feasible run SWUpdate from a directory on a filesystem the unprivileged attacker cannot write to - recognizing the trade-off that this may break legitimate user-initiated update flows on multi-user devices.

Affected VersionsENISA

swupdate 0 <2026.05

Affected Packages

euvd swupdate fix: 2026.05

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 1 package in euvd

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

SWUpdate (sbabic/swupdate) is a widely used update agent for embedded Linux devices, commonly invoked with elevated privileges to apply signed firmware/software bundles. CWE-367 (TOCTOU) describes a class of bugs where a security-relevant check on a filesystem object and the subsequent use of that object are non-atomic, letting a local attacker swap the object in between. The upstream fix in core/util.c hardens swupdate_remove_directory() by stat()-ing the path and explicitly verifying S_ISDIR(path_stat.st_mode) before traversal/removal, which blocks a racing attacker from substituting a symlink or non-directory entry under a path SWUpdate will operate on as root.

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Severity by source

Vendor (sba-research) PRIMARY 7.3 HIGH
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Primary rating from Vendor (sba-research) · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorVendor: sba-research

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Attack Requirements
Present
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Vulnerable system: Confidentiality
High
Vulnerable system: Integrity
High
Vulnerable system: Availability
High
Subsequent system: Confidentiality
None
Subsequent system: Integrity
None
Subsequent system: Availability
None

Lifecycle Timeline

2
CVSS changed
Jun 03, 2026 - 13:22 NVD
7.3 (HIGH)
CVE Published
Jun 03, 2026 - 11:01 nvd
UNKNOWN (no severity yet)

DescriptionCVE.org

SWUpdate before 2026.05 is affected by a time-of-check time-of-use (TOCTOU) race condition that allows local unprivileged attackers to escalate privileges to root or install untrusted contents using a signed update.

Executive ViewAI

Why It Matters

SWUpdate, a firmware management system for embedded Linux devices, contains a local privilege escalation vulnerability that allows unprivileged users to gain root access and install malicious firmware on affected systems. The flaw undermines the integrity of digitally signed updates, a foundational security control for embedded device fleets. Organizations deploying SWUpdate face risk of unauthorized system takeover across potentially thousands of production devices.

Business Impact: High
Compensating Controls

Apply vendor patch: SWUpdate version 2026.05 or later (upstream commit f4bd6426). No interim mitigations exist; patching is required to resolve this local privilege escalation.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.0%
Top 98% exploitable
Social Media
1
Sightings
Data Quality
7 sources
Confidence: High
EUVD NVD CVE.org EPSS Vulnrichment CIRCL GitHub VulDB

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity HIGH
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.0%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision
Scheduled
Exploitation
Poc
System Exposure· derived
Small
Automatable
No
Human Impact
High
Technical Impact
Total

Priority Score

36
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +36
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Privilege escalation occurs when an attacker leverages flaws in access control mechanisms to gain permissions beyond what they were originally granted.

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