CVE-2025-67508
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability allows attackers with administrative privileges in Gardener projects to inject malicious credential values that break out of string contexts when evaluated in non-POSIX shells like Fish or PowerShell. The crafted credentials can be used in infrastructure Secret objects, potentially leading to command injection. Only users running gardenctl versions 2.11.0 or below with administrative project access are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- gardenctl
⚠️ Manual Verification Required
This CVE does not have specific version information in our database, so automatic vulnerability detection cannot determine if your system is affected.
Why? The CVE database entry doesn't specify which versions are vulnerable (no version ranges provided by the vendor/NVD).
🔒 Custom verification scripts are available for registered users. Sign up free to download automated test scripts.
- Review the CVE details at NVD
- Check vendor security advisories for your specific version
- Test if the vulnerability is exploitable in your environment
- Consider updating to the latest version as a precaution
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Full compromise of the Gardener environment through command injection, allowing attackers to execute arbitrary commands with service operator privileges, potentially leading to data exfiltration, resource hijacking, or complete system takeover.
Likely Case
Privilege escalation within the Gardener environment, enabling attackers to manipulate cluster configurations, access sensitive cloud credentials, or disrupt infrastructure operations.
If Mitigated
Limited impact due to proper access controls and monitoring, with attackers only able to manipulate their own project resources within intended boundaries.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires administrative project access and knowledge of the target's shell environment. The advisory provides technical details but no public exploit code.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 2.12.0
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/gardener/gardenctl-v2/security/advisories/GHSA-fw33-qpx7-rhx2
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Download gardenctl version 2.12.0 or higher from official sources. 2. Replace existing gardenctl binary with the updated version. 3. Verify the update with 'gardenctl version' command.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Restrict to POSIX shells
allEnsure Gardener service operators only use POSIX-compliant shells (bash, sh, zsh) instead of Fish or PowerShell.
export SHELL=/bin/bash
chsh -s /bin/bash [username]
Credential validation
allImplement input validation for credential values to reject special characters that could break string contexts.
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Restrict administrative project privileges to trusted users only.
- Implement strict monitoring of credential creation and modification activities in Gardener projects.
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check gardenctl version with 'gardenctl version' command and verify if it's 2.11.0 or below.Check Version:
gardenctl versionVerify Fix Applied:
Run 'gardenctl version' and confirm version is 2.12.0 or higher.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual credential creation/modification patterns
- Commands executed from credential values in logs
- Failed shell command attempts from credential contexts
Network Indicators:
- Unexpected outbound connections from Gardener control plane
- Suspicious API calls to cloud providers
SIEM Query:
source="gardenctl" AND (event="credential_create" OR event="credential_update") AND credential_value MATCHES "[;|&`$()]"