# CVE-2025-7519: polkit out-of-bounds write in XML policy parsing

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2025-7519-polkit-out-of-bounds-write-in-xml-policy-parsing  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 2025-07-14. Updated: 2026-06-25  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

CVE-2025-7519 · Severity: medium · CVSS 6.7 · Published 2025-07-14

polkit is a system service used in Linux distributions to manage administrative privileges and allow non-privileged processes to communicate with privileged ones. A vulnerability exists where the service fails to properly handle specially crafted policy files containing deeply nested elements. If a high-privileged user or an attacker with administrative access places a malicious policy file on the system, it could cause the service to crash or potentially allow for the execution of unauthorized code, impacting system stability and security.

Technologies: [Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10](https://junglewise.ai/threats/technologies/enterprise-linux-10), [Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8](https://junglewise.ai/threats/technologies/enterprise-linux-8), [Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9](https://junglewise.ai/threats/technologies/enterprise-linux-9), [Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4](https://junglewise.ai/threats/technologies/openshift-container-platform-4). Vendors: [Red Hat](https://junglewise.ai/threats/vendors/red-hat).

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-2025-7519 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2025-7519 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-2025-7519?** Medium severity, with a CVSS score of 6.7, published 14 July 2025.

**Which products and versions are affected?** polkit-org polkit <= 126; Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8; Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9; Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; and 1 more.

**Is there a fix for CVE-2025-7519?** A patch was published on 2025-07-05: Fix merged into polkit main branch Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.

**How is CVE-2025-7519 attacked?** It is attacked with local access, in an operating system.

**Am I affected by CVE-2025-7519?** Check whether you run Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 or one of the others listed. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

## Technical details

A flaw was discovered in the polkit backend's XML parser, specifically within the `polkitbackendactionpool.c` component. When the parser encounters an XML policy file with 32 or more nested elements (exceeding `PARSER_MAX_DEPTH`), it triggers an out-of-bounds write due to insufficient bounds checking on the `stack_depth` variable. An attacker requires high privileges (e.g., root or a user capable of writing to polkit's policy directories) to place the malicious `.policy` file. Successful exploitation can lead to a denial-of-service (crash) of the polkit daemon or potentially arbitrary code execution. A fix has been committed to the upstream repository to enforce depth limits during parsing.

## Affected products

- polkit-org polkit <= 126
- Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
- Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4

## Timeline

- 2025-06-06: other: Vulnerability reported by Med Maatallah
- 2025-07-05: patched: Fix merged into polkit main branch
- 2025-07-14: disclosed: CVE published

## References

- [https://www.freedesktop.org/software/polkit/releases/](https://www.freedesktop.org/software/polkit/releases/)
- [https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/package-browser/](https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/package-browser/)
- [https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-7519](https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-7519)
- [https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2379675](https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2379675)
- [https://github.com/polkit-org/polkit/commit/107d3801361b9f9084f78710178e683391f1d245](https://github.com/polkit-org/polkit/commit/107d3801361b9f9084f78710178e683391f1d245)
- [https://github.com/polkit-org/polkit/pull/570](https://github.com/polkit-org/polkit/pull/570)

## Related threats

- [Red Hat yggdrasil-worker-package-manager argument injection in APT backend](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-18157-red-hat-yggdrasil-worker-package-manager-argument-injection-in)
- [Samba AD DC LDAP filter injection and ACL bypass in Compare requests](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-58222-samba-ad-dc-ldap-filter-injection-and-acl-bypass-in-compare)
- [Samba KDC out-of-bounds read in kpasswd service](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-58216-samba-kdc-out-of-bounds-read-in-kpasswd-service)
- [Samba internal DNS server denial of service via TKEY cache exhaustion](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-58218-samba-internal-dns-server-denial-of-service-via-tkey-cache)
- [Red Hat PCP auth bypass in pmproxy /store endpoint](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-16527-red-hat-pcp-auth-bypass-in-pmproxy-store-endpoint)