--- title: "CVE-2025-32801: Loading a malicious hook library can lead to local privilege escalation" slug: "cve-2025-32801" description: "Kea configuration and API directives can be used to load a malicious hook library. Many common configurations run Kea as root, leave the API entry points unsecured by default, and/or place the control sockets in insecure paths." tags: ["cve", "kea dhcp"] updated: 2025-05-28T15:36:33Z published: 2025-05-28T15:36:33Z canonical: "kb.isc.org/cve-2025-32801" --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://kb.isc.org/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # CVE-2025-32801: Loading a malicious hook library can lead to local privilege escalation **CVE:** [CVE-2025-32801](https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2025-32801) **Title:** Loading a malicious hook library can lead to local privilege escalation **Document version:** 2.0 **Posting date:** 28 May 2025 **Program impacted:** [Kea](https://www.isc.org/kea/) **Versions affected:** Kea - 2.4.0 -> 2.4.1 - 2.6.0 -> 2.6.2 - 2.7.0 -> 2.7.8 (Versions prior to 2.4.0 were not assessed.) End-of-life versions are likely also affected but have not been tested. **Severity:** High **Exploitable:** Locally **Description:** Kea configuration and API directives can be used to load a malicious hook library. Many common configurations run Kea as root, leave the API entry points unsecured by default, and/or place the control sockets in insecure paths. **Impact:** If an attacker has access to a local unprivileged user account, and the Kea API entry points are not secured, the attacker can instruct Kea to load a hook library from an arbitrary local file (including a file introduced by the attacker). The malicious hook would execute with the privileges available to Kea. **CVSS Score:** 7.8 **CVSS Vector:** CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H For more information on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System and to obtain your specific environmental score please visit: [https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln-metrics/cvss/v3-calculator?vector=AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H&version=3.1](https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln-metrics/cvss/v3-calculator?vector=AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H&version=3.1). **Workarounds:** Two mitigation approaches are possible: (1) Disable the Kea API entirely, by (1a) disabling the `kea-ctrl-agent`, and (1b) removing any `"control-socket"` stanzas from the Kea configuration files; or (2) Secure access to the API by (2a) requiring authentication (a password or client certificate) for the `kea-ctrl-agent`, and (2b) configuring all `"control-socket"` stanzas to use a directory restricted to only trusted users. **Active exploits:** We are not aware of any active exploits. **Solution:** Upgrade to the patched release most closely related to your current version of Kea: - 2.4.2 - 2.6.3 - 2.7.9 **Acknowledgments:** ISC would like to thank Matthias Gerstner from the SUSE security team and Laura Pardo from Red Hat's Product Security Team for bringing this vulnerability to our attention. **Document revision history:** - 1.0 Early Notification, 21 May 2025 - 1.1 Changed CVSS Score from 8.4 to 7.8 (PR:N to PR:L), 22 May 2025 - 2.0 Public disclosure, 28 May 2025 **Do you still have questions?** Questions regarding this advisory should be mailed to [kea-security@isc.org](mailto:kea-security@isc.org) or posted as confidential GitLab issues at [https://gitlab.isc.org/isc-projects/kea/-/issues/new?issue[confidential]=true](https://gitlab.isc.org/isc-projects/kea/-/issues/new?issue%5Bconfidential%5D=true). **Note:** ISC patches only currently supported versions. When possible we indicate EOL versions affected. For current information on which versions are actively supported, please see [https://www.isc.org/download/](https://www.isc.org/download/). **ISC Security Vulnerability Disclosure Policy:** Details of our current security advisory policy and practice can be found in the ISC Software Defect and Security Vulnerability Disclosure Policy at [https://kb.isc.org/docs/aa-00861](https://kb.isc.org/docs/aa-00861). The Knowledgebase article [https://kb.isc.org/docs/cve-2025-32801](https://kb.isc.org/docs/cve-2025-32801) is the complete and official security advisory document. **Legal Disclaimer:** Internet Systems Consortium (ISC) is providing this notice on an "AS IS" basis. No warranty or guarantee of any kind is expressed in this notice and none should be implied. 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