Incorrect permission assignment in NixOS Nix
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- High
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · Low · None
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA.
Summary
The Nix, Lix, and Guix package managers fail to properly set permissions when a derivation build fails. This may allow arbitrary processes to modify the content of a store outside of the build sandbox. This affects Nix before 2.24.15, 2.26.4, 2.28.4, and 2.29.1; Lix before 2.91.2, 2.92.2, and 2.93.1; and Guix before 1.4.0-38.0e79d5b.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NixOS | Nix | before 2.24.15; 2.25.0 to before 2.26.4; 2.27.0 to before 2.28.4; 2.29.0 to before 2.29.1 | 2.24.15, 2.26.4, 2.28.4, 2.29.1 | Patch available | CNA |
- Nix VendorNixOS Affected before 2.24.15; 2.25.0 to before 2.26.4; 2.27.0 to before 2.28.4; 2.29.0 to before 2.29.1 Fixed in 2.24.15, 2.26.4, 2.28.4, 2.29.1 Patch available CNA
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Nix (NixOS) Fixed in 2.24.15, 2.26.4, 2.28.4, 2.29.1
Fixed in the same release
Records fixed by the same vendor advisory or release, as the CNA lists them.
- Release ·
NixOS Nix 2.24.15, 2.26.4 and 2 more versions
4 records Highest priority Priority MEDIUM 1 MEDIUM, 3 LOW
Other records, highest priority first
- TI-2025-29136 Time-of-check time-of-use race condition in NixOS NixPriority MEDIUM 49
- TI-2025-32998 Race condition in NixOS NixPriority LOW 24
- TI-2025-32996 Incorrect default permissions in NixOS NixPriority LOW 15
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2025-52992
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-wcw8-hffm-7w9g
References
More NixOS vulnerabilities
- TI-2026-23989 crypto: algif_aead - Revert to operating out-of-place KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 7.8
- TI-2024-11208 Rsync: heap buffer overflow in rsync due to improper checksum length handling CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2026-19201 Tandoor Recipes module allows SQLite database to be externally accessible with the default settings CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.7
- TI-2024-11209 Rsync: info leak via uninitialized stack contents CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2024-11212 Rsync: --safe-links option bypass leads to path traversal CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2024-11211 Rsync: path traversal vulnerability in rsync CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
Sources
- CVE-2025-52992 · CVE Program
- CVE-2025-52992 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-wcw8-hffm-7w9g · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
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