Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2025-53859

medium Nessus Plugin ID 260005

Synopsis

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed with a vulnerability that the vendor indicates will not be patched.

Description

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed that are impacted by a vulnerability without a vendor supplied patch available.

- NGINX Open Source and NGINX Plus have a vulnerability in the ngx_mail_smtp_module that might allow an unauthenticated attacker to over-read NGINX SMTP authentication process memory; as a result, the server side may leak arbitrary bytes sent in a request to the authentication server. This issue happens during the NGINX SMTP authentication process and requires the attacker to make preparations against the target system to extract the leaked data. The issue affects NGINX only if (1) it is built with the ngx_mail_smtp_module, (2) the smtp_auth directive is configured with method none, and (3) the authentication server returns the Auth-Wait response header. Note: Software versions which have reached End of Technical Support (EoTS) are not evaluated. (CVE-2025-53859)

Note that Nessus relies on the presence of the package as reported by the vendor.

Solution

There is no known solution at this time.

See Also

https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2025-53859

Plugin Details

Severity: Medium

ID: 260005

File Name: unpatched_CVE_2025_53859.nasl

Version: 1.1

Type: local

Agent: unix

Family: Misc.

Published: 8/31/2025

Updated: 8/31/2025

Supported Sensors: Agentless Assessment, Frictionless Assessment Agent, Nessus Agent, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Low

Score: 2.9

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 5

Temporal Score: 3.7

Vector: CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2025-53859

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.5

Temporal Score: 6.5

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:O/RC:C

CVSS v4

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 6.3

Threat Score: 1.7

Threat Vector: CVSS:4.0/E:U

Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:14.0, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:11.0, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:13.0, p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:nginx, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:12.0

Required KB Items: Host/cpu, Host/local_checks_enabled, global_settings/vendor_unpatched, Host/OS/identifier

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Vulnerability Publication Date: 8/13/2025

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2025-53859