CVE-2025-32955Public exploit

Root escalation via Docker group access

Published Apr 21, 2025 · Updated Apr 22, 2025

Privilege escalation in StepSecurity Harden-Runner 0.12.0 and later before 2.12.0 allows local users to gain root access through Docker. The disable-sudo policy removes the runner's sudoers file but leaves the Linux runner user in the root-equivalent Docker group, permitting privileged containers to mount the host filesystem. Exploitation requires code execution in a job configured with disable-sudo: true on a GitHub-hosted or ephemeral self-hosted VM; ARC deployments are unaffected.

CVSS severity6.0
Medium
EPSS probability0.22%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Privilege escalation in StepSecurity Harden-Runner 0.12.0 and later before 2.12.0 allows local users to gain root access through Docker. The disable-sudo policy removes the runner's sudoers file but leaves the Linux runner user in the root-equivalent Docker group, permitting privileged containers to mount the host filesystem. Exploitation requires code execution in a job configured with disable-sudo: true on a GitHub-hosted or ephemeral self-hosted VM; ARC deployments are unaffected.

The record

CVE
CVE-2025-32955
Published
Apr 21, 2025
Updated
Apr 22, 2025
Vendor
StepSecurity
Product
Harden-Runner
Classifications
CWE-269, CWE-268, T1611
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Apr 21, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Apr 22, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=>= 0.12.0, < 2.12.0

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

StepSecurity · Harden-Runnerversion=>= 0.12.0, < 2.12.0

Published CVSS scores

6.0GitHub, Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-269Improper Privilege Management
CWE-268Privilege Chaining
T1611Escape to Host

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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