Local root access via unrestricted Samba mounts
Published Jan 8, 2026 · Updated Jan 8, 2026
Privilege escalation in KDE Smb4K before 4.0.5 allows local users to gain root access through the privileged mount helper. Smb4KMountHelper::mount accepts unrestricted target directories and forwards attacker-controlled options to mount.cifs, allowing crafted share content to replace system paths or appear as setuid-root files. An active local session can invoke the D-Bus KAuth action without authentication, but root compromise requires control of the mounted Samba share.
Summary
What happened
Privilege escalation in KDE Smb4K before 4.0.5 allows local users to gain root access through the privileged mount helper. Smb4KMountHelper::mount accepts unrestricted target directories and forwards attacker-controlled options to mount.cifs, allowing crafted share content to replace system paths or appear as setuid-root files. An active local session can invoke the D-Bus KAuth action without authentication, but root compromise requires control of the mounted Samba share.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-66003
- Published
- Jan 8, 2026
- Updated
- Jan 8, 2026
- Vendor
- KDE
- Product
- Smb4K
- Classifications
- CWE-73, T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jan 8, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jan 8, 2026Record 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.
- Affected versionversion=? <4.0.5
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- SUSE smb4k_mount.cpp reproducerproof of concept · demonstrated
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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