CVE-2025-54409
📋 TL;DR
AIDE versions 0.13 to 0.19.1 contain a null pointer dereference vulnerability that allows local attackers to crash the program by setting extended file attributes with empty values or keys containing commas. This causes a local denial of service, affecting systems using vulnerable AIDE versions for file integrity monitoring. The vulnerability requires local access to exploit.
💻 Affected Systems
- AIDE (Advanced Intrusion Detection Environment)
📦 What is this software?
Advanced Intrusion Detection Environment by Advanced Intrusion Detection Environment Project
View all CVEs affecting Advanced Intrusion Detection Environment →
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Critical file integrity monitoring is disrupted, potentially allowing undetected system changes during the outage window.
Likely Case
Local denial of service causing AIDE to crash during report generation or database operations.
If Mitigated
Minimal impact with proper access controls limiting local user privileges.
🎯 Exploit Status
Requires local access and ability to set extended file attributes with specific malformed values.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 0.19.2
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/aide/aide/security/advisories/GHSA-79g7-f8rv-jcxh
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Download AIDE 0.19.2 from official repository. 2. Compile and install following standard build procedures. 3. Update AIDE database with 'aide --init' and 'aide --check'.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Remove xattrs monitoring
allModify AIDE configuration to exclude extended attributes from monitoring
Edit /etc/aide.conf or your AIDE configuration file
Remove or comment out lines containing 'xattrs' group
Example: Change 'MyRule = p+i+n+u+g+s+m+c+acl+selinux+xattrs' to 'MyRule = p+i+n+u+g+s+m+c+acl+selinux'
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict access controls to limit local users' ability to set extended file attributes
- Monitor for AIDE process crashes and investigate any unauthorized local user activity
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check AIDE version with 'aide --version' and verify if between 0.13 and 0.19.1Check Version:
aide --versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify version is 0.19.2 or higher with 'aide --version' and test AIDE operations with xattrs📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- AIDE process crashes in system logs
- Segmentation fault errors from AIDE
- Failed integrity checks due to AIDE crashes
Network Indicators:
- None - local vulnerability only
SIEM Query:
source="system_logs" AND ("aide" AND ("segmentation fault" OR "crash" OR "SIGSEGV"))🔗 References
- https://github.com/aide/aide/commit/54a6d0d9d5f14b81961d66373c0291bf4af4135a
- https://github.com/aide/aide/releases/tag/v0.19.2
- https://github.com/aide/aide/security/advisories/GHSA-79g7-f8rv-jcxh
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2025/08/14/8
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/08/msg00011.html
- https://github.com/aide/aide/security/advisories/GHSA-79g7-f8rv-jcxh
