CVE-2025-54059: Chainguard.dev/melange Melange's World-writable Permissions Expose SBOM Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-5662-cv6m-63wh
Share
CVSS 4.4
CWE-276
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2025-54059 is a MODERATE (CVSS 4.4) melange's world-writable permissions expose sbom vulnerability (CWE-276: Incorrect Default Permissions) affecting Chainguard.dev/melange libraries in the Go ecosystem. The issue involves melange's world-writable permissions expose sbom files to potential image tampering. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 0.29.5.

CVE-2025-54059 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2025-54059
GHSA Identifier GHSA-5662-cv6m-63wh
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 4.4
CWE Classification CWE-276: Incorrect Default Permissions
Affected Product Chainguard.dev/melange
Package Ecosystem Go
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 4.4

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L).

Attack Vector Local (AV:L)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required Low (PR:L)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality None (C:N)
Integrity Low (I:L)
Availability Low (A:L)

How to Fix CVE-2025-54059

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Chainguard.dev/melange dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

chainguard.dev/melange fixed: 0.29.5 
Upgrade chainguard.dev/melange to 0.29.5
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

inspect dependencies for chainguard.dev/melange

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2025-54059, inspect your project dependencies for Chainguard.dev/melange:

inspect dependencies for chainguard.dev/melange

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Chainguard.dev/melange in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 0.29.5), your application is affected.

Note: Verify declared build manifests and deployed runtime container environments.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-276: Incorrect Default Permissions, where during installation, installed file permissions are set to allow anyone to modify those files. In Chainguard.dev/melange, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

It was discovered that the SBOM files generated by melange in apks had file system permissions mode 666: ``` $ apkrane ls https://packages.wolfi.dev/os/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz -P hello-wolfi --full --latest | xargs wget -q -O - | tar tzv 2>/dev/null var/lib/db/sbom drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2025-06-23 14:17 var/lib/db/sbom -rw-rw-rw- root/root 3383 2025-06-23 14:17 var/lib/db/sbom/hello-wolfi-2.12.2-r1.spdx.json ``` This issue was introduced in commit 1b272db ("Persist workspace filesystem throughout package builds (#1836)") ([v0.23.0](https://github.com/chainguard-dev/melange/releases/tag/v0.23.0)). ### Impact This potentially allows an unprivileged user to tamper with apk SBOMs on a running image, potentially confusing security scanners. An attacker could also perform a DoS under special circumstances. ### Patches This issue was addressed in melange in e29494b ("fix: tighten up permissions for written SBOM files and signature tarballs (#2086)") ([v0.29.5](https://github.com/chainguard-dev/melange/releases/tag/v0.29.5)). ## Acknowledgements Thanks to Cody Harris [H2O.ai](https://h2o.ai/) and Markus Boehme for independently reporting this issue.

CVE-2025-54059 Affected Chainguard.dev/melange Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
0.29.5
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
chainguard.dev/melange
golang/chainguard.dev/melange
Go
≥ 0.23.0
< 0.29.5
0.29.5

References

GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/chainguard-dev/melange/security/advisories/GHSA-5662-cv6m-63wh
NVD — CVE-2025-54059 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-54059
Chainguard.dev/melange Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/chainguard-dev/melange/pull/1836
Chainguard.dev/melange Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/chainguard-dev/melange/pull/2086
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/chainguard-dev/melange/commit/1b272db2a0bb3441553284cc56d87236b4b64c04
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/chainguard-dev/melange/commit/e29494b4a40a91619ec1c87a09003c6d5164cea1
Chainguard.dev/melange Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/chainguard-dev/melange
Chainguard.dev/melange Release RELEASE
https://github.com/chainguard-dev/melange/releases/tag/v0.29.5

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2025-54059?
CVE-2025-54059 is a security vulnerability in Chainguard.dev/melange involving melange's world-writable permissions expose SBOM files to potential image tampering under CWE-276: Incorrect Default Permissions.
Which Chainguard.dev/melange versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 0.29.5 across affected packages: chainguard.dev/melange.
What version fixes CVE-2025-54059?
Upgrading to 0.29.5 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is chainguard.dev/melange affected?
Yes, chainguard.dev/melange is affected in releases prior to 0.29.5. Upgrade your dependency to 0.29.5 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2025-54059?
CVE-2025-54059 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 4.4 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2025-54059?
CVE-2025-54059 is classified under CWE-276: Incorrect Default Permissions (During installation, installed file permissions are set to allow anyone to modify those files.).
How can I check Go dependencies for CVE-2025-54059?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for chainguard.dev/melange'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-5662-cv6m-63wh",
  "modified" : "2025-07-18T20:13:21Z",
  "published" : "2025-07-18T20:13:21Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2025-54059" ],
  "summary" : "melange's world-writable permissions expose SBOM files to potential image tampering",
  "details" : "It was discovered that the SBOM files generated by melange in apks had file system permissions mode 666:\n```\n$ apkrane ls https://packages.wolfi.dev/os/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz -P hello-wolfi --full --latest  | xargs wget -q -O  - | tar tzv 2>/dev/null var/lib/db/sbom\ndrwxr-xr-x root/root         0 2025-06-23 14:17 var/lib/db/sbom\n-rw-rw-rw- root/root      3383 2025-06-23 14:17 var/lib/db/sbom/hello-wolfi-2.12.2-r1.spdx.json\n```\n\nThis issue was introduced in commit 1b272db (\"Persist workspace filesystem throughout package builds (#1836)\") ([v0.23.0](https://github.com/chainguard-dev/melange/releases/tag/v0.23.0)).\n\n### Impact\nThis potentially allows an unprivileged user to tamper with apk SBOMs on a running image, potentially confusing security scanners. An attacker could also perform a DoS under special circumstances.\n\n### Patches\nThis issue was addressed in melange in e29494b (\"fix: tighten up permissions for written SBOM files and signature tarballs (#2086)\") ([v0.29.5](https://github.com/chainguard-dev/melange/releases/tag/v0.29.5)).\n\n## Acknowledgements\n\nThanks to Cody Harris [H2O.ai](https://h2o.ai/) and Markus Boehme for independently reporting this issue.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Go",
      "name" : "chainguard.dev/melange"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0.23.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.29.5"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/chainguard-dev/melange/security/advisories/GHSA-5662-cv6m-63wh"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-54059"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/chainguard-dev/melange/pull/1836"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/chainguard-dev/melange/pull/2086"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/chainguard-dev/melange/commit/1b272db2a0bb3441553284cc56d87236b4b64c04"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/chainguard-dev/melange/commit/e29494b4a40a91619ec1c87a09003c6d5164cea1"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/chainguard-dev/melange"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/chainguard-dev/melange/releases/tag/v0.29.5"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-276" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2025-07-18T20:13:21Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2025-07-18T16:15:30Z"
  }
}