CVE-2025-68119
Description
A flaw was found in Golang's cmd/go module. This vulnerability allows a local attacker to achieve local code execution by downloading and building modules with specially crafted malicious version strings. On systems with Mercurial (hg) installed, this can occur when downloading modules from non-standard sources due to how external Version Control System (VCS) commands are constructed. Additionally, on systems with Git installed, providing malicious version strings to the toolchain can enable an attacker to write to arbitrary files on the filesystem. This issue is triggered by explicitly supplying these malicious version strings.
Statement
This issue is rated Moderate severity by Red Hat Product Security, because exploitation requires non-standard and intentional user behavior.
The attacker must explicitly supply a specially crafted module version string, which does not occur during normal Go module usage such as @latest or standard module paths, making the attack complexity high.
Additionally, user interaction is required, as the vulnerable behavior is only triggered when a user manually invokes the Go toolchain to download or build the malicious module.
While successful exploitation can result in local code execution or arbitrary file modification, the combination of local access, manual input, and uncommon usage patterns significantly limits the likelihood of exploitation in typical environments.
Mitigation
No mitigation is currently available that meets Red Hat Product Security's standards for usability, deployment, applicability, or stability.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 6.7 | N/A | 7 |
| Attack Vector | Local | N/A | Local |
| Attack Complexity | High | N/A | High |
| Privileges Required | Low | N/A | Low |
| User Interaction | Required | N/A | None |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | High | N/A | High |
| Integrity Impact | High | N/A | High |
| Availability Impact | High | N/A | High |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Confidentiality,Integrity,Availability,Non-Repudiation
Technical Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands; DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart; Read Files or Directories; Modify Files or Directories; Read Application Data; Modify Application Data; Hide Activities
Attackers could execute unauthorized operating system commands, which could then be used to disable the product, or read and modify data for which the attacker does not have permissions to access directly. Since the targeted application is directly executing the commands instead of the attacker, any malicious activities may appear to come from the application or the application's owner.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not sure what something means? Check out our Security Glossary.
Want to get errata notifications? Sign up here.
