CVE-2025-8077: NeuVector admin account has insecure default password

Should you act?

Critical and remotely reachable

No known exploitation yet, but it is network-reachable without credentials. This signal is computed from CISA KEV, EPSS and CVSS data; it is not an editorial verdict.

• No confirmed exploitation. It is not in CISA’s KEV catalog and CISA’s SSVC assessment records no known exploitation. That can change quickly after a public write-up; re-check if you are affected.
• EPSS 0.6%, percentile 46: FIRST’s model estimates a 0.6% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 46% of all scored CVEs (low). EPSS is a probability, not a verdict.
• Remotely reachable with no login and no user interaction. If the vulnerable service is exposed to the internet, prioritize it.
• Only applies if your dependency tree includes github.com/neuvector/neuvector (Go) < 0.0.0-20250825191744-da1a462074c3, fixed in 0.0.0-20250825191744-da1a462074c3. Check your lockfile, including transitive dependencies.

What it is

A vulnerability exists in NeuVector versions up to and including 5.4.5, where a fixed string is used as the default password for the built-in admin account. If this password is not changed immediately after deployment, any workload with network access within the cluster could use the default credentials to obtain an authentication token. This token can then be used to perform any operation via NeuVector APIs.

From the GitHub advisory

Impact

A vulnerability exists in NeuVector versions up to and including 5.4.5, where a fixed string is used as the default password for the built-in admin account. If this password is not changed immediately after deployment, any workload with network access within the cluster could use the default credentials to obtain an authentication token. This token can then be used to perform any operation via NeuVector APIs.

In earlier versions, NeuVector supports setting the default (bootstrap) password for the admin account using a Kubernetes Secret named neuvector-bootstrap-secret. This Secret must contain a key named bootstrapPassword. However, if NeuVector fails to retrieve this value, it falls back to the fixed default password.

Patches

This issue is resolved in NeuVector version 5.4.6 and later. For rolling upgrades, it's strongly recommended to change the default admin password to a secure one.

Weakness type: CWE-1393.

Product: github.com/neuvector/neuvector (Go) · Assigned by: suse · Published: 2025-09-17

Affected and fixed versions

Severity scores

• Attack vector: network (remotely reachable)
• Attack complexity: low
• Privileges required: none (no login)
• User interaction: none
• Scope: unchanged

CVSS measures how bad a flaw is if exploited, not how likely exploitation is. Read it next to the exploitation data below.

Exploitation and urgency

• CISA KEV: not listed (no confirmed in-the-wild exploitation known to CISA).
• CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation none, automatable yes, technical impact total.
• FIRST EPSS (model of 2026-10-21): 0.56% probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 46.

Timeline

• 2025-08-28 — GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-8pxw-9c75-6w56 published (critical)
• 2025-09-17 — CVE record published by suse
• 2026-02-26 — CVE record last updated

Sources and references

Original sources first. Version and fix details should always be confirmed against the vendor or project advisory.

Vulnerability records

1. GitHub Advisory GHSA-8pxw-9c75-6w56 github.com
2. CVE.org record CVE-2025-8077 cve.org
3. NVD entry CVE-2025-8077 nvd.nist.gov

Other references from the CVE record and advisory

1. bugzilla.suse.com bugzilla.suse.com
2. github.com github.com

Critical Go advisories · Today’s Security Digest