CVE-2025-2885: Tough Tough Root Metadata Version Is Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-5vmp-m5v2-hx47
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CVSS 4.2
CWE-1288
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2025-2885 is a MODERATE (CVSS 4.2) tough root metadata version is vulnerability (CWE-1288: Improper Validation of Consistency within Input) affecting Tough libraries in the crates.io ecosystem. The issue involves tough root metadata version is not checked for sequential versioning. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 0.20.0.

CVE-2025-2885 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2025-2885
GHSA Identifier GHSA-5vmp-m5v2-hx47
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 4.2
CWE Classification CWE-1288: Improper Validation of Consistency within Input
Affected Product Tough
Package Ecosystem crates.io
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 4.2

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

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity High (AC:H)
Privileges Required High (PR:H)
User Interaction Required (UI:R)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality None (C:N)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability None (A:N)

How to Fix CVE-2025-2885

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

tough fixed: 0.20.0 
Upgrade tough to 0.20.0
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 tough

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2025-2885, inspect your project dependencies for Tough:

inspect dependencies for tough

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Tough in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 0.20.0), 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-1288: Improper Validation of Consistency within Input, where the product receives a complex input with multiple elements or fields that must be consistent with each other, but it does not validate or incorrectly validates that the input is actually consistent. In Tough, 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

## Summary When updating the root role, a TUF client must establish a trusted line of continuity to the latest set of keys. While sequentially downloading new versions of the root metadata file, tough will not check that the root object version it received was the next sequential version from the previously trusted root metadata. ## Impact The tough client will trust an outdated or rotated root role in the event that an actor with control of the storage medium of a trusted TUF repository inappropriately replaced the contents of one of the root metadata files with an adequately signed previous version. As a result, tough could trust content associated with a previous root role. Impacted versions: < v0.20.0 ## Patches A fix for this issue is available in tough version 0.20.0 and later. Customers are advised to upgrade to version 0.20.0 or later and ensure any forked or derivative code is patched to incorporate the new fixes. ## Workarounds There is no recommended work around. Customers are advised to upgrade to version 0.20.0 or the latest version. ## References If you have any questions or comments about this advisory we ask that you contact AWS/Amazon Security via our vulnerability reporting page [1] or directly via email to [aws-security@amazon.com](mailto:aws-security@amazon.com). Please do not create a public GitHub issue. [1] Vulnerability reporting page: https://aws.amazon.com/security/vulnerability-reporting ## Acknowledgement These issues were identified by the [TUF-Conformance project](https://github.com/theupdateframework/tuf-conformance). We would like to thank Google for collaborating on this issue through the coordinated vulnerability disclosure process.

CVE-2025-2885 Affected Tough Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
0.20.0
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
tough
 crates.io
< 0.20.0
0.20.0

References

GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/awslabs/tough/security/advisories/GHSA-5vmp-m5v2-hx47
NVD — CVE-2025-2885 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-2885
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/awslabs/tough/commit/0eeb60aefe27f00b65730634b788a1aafb8bf3c6
Tough Security Information SECURITY
https://aws.amazon.com/security/security-bulletins/AWS-2025-007
Tough Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/awslabs/tough
Tough Release RELEASE
https://github.com/awslabs/tough/releases/tag/tough-v0.20.0

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2025-2885?
CVE-2025-2885 is a security vulnerability in Tough involving tough root metadata version is not checked for sequential versioning under CWE-1288: Improper Validation of Consistency within Input.
Which Tough versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 0.20.0 across affected packages: tough.
What version fixes CVE-2025-2885?
Upgrading to 0.20.0 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is tough affected?
Yes, tough is affected in releases prior to 0.20.0. Upgrade your dependency to 0.20.0 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2025-2885?
CVE-2025-2885 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 4.2 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2025-2885?
CVE-2025-2885 is classified under CWE-1288: Improper Validation of Consistency within Input (The product receives a complex input with multiple elements or fields that must be consistent with each other, but it does not validate or incorrectly validates that the input is actually consistent.).
How can I check crates.io dependencies for CVE-2025-2885?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for tough'. 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-5vmp-m5v2-hx47",
  "modified" : "2025-10-14T21:58:49Z",
  "published" : "2025-03-28T22:12:36Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2025-2885" ],
  "summary" : "tough root metadata version is not checked for sequential versioning",
  "details" : "## Summary\n\nWhen updating the root role, a TUF client must establish a trusted line of continuity to the latest set of keys. While sequentially downloading new versions of the root metadata file, tough will not check that the root object version it received was the next sequential version from the previously trusted root metadata.\n\n## Impact\n\nThe tough client will trust an outdated or rotated root role in the event that an actor with control of the storage medium of a trusted TUF repository inappropriately replaced the contents of one of the root metadata files with an adequately signed previous version. As a result, tough could trust content associated with a previous root role.\n\nImpacted versions: < v0.20.0\n\n## Patches\n\nA fix for this issue is available in tough version 0.20.0 and later. Customers are advised to upgrade to version 0.20.0 or later and ensure any forked or derivative code is patched to incorporate the new fixes.\n\n## Workarounds\n\nThere is no recommended work around. Customers are advised to upgrade to version 0.20.0 or the latest version.\n\n## References\n\nIf you have any questions or comments about this advisory we ask that you contact AWS/Amazon Security via our vulnerability reporting page [1] or directly via email to [aws-security@amazon.com](mailto:aws-security@amazon.com). Please do not create a public GitHub issue.\n\n\n[1] Vulnerability reporting page: https://aws.amazon.com/security/vulnerability-reporting\n\n## Acknowledgement\n\nThese issues were identified by the [TUF-Conformance project](https://github.com/theupdateframework/tuf-conformance). We would like to thank Google for collaborating on this issue through the coordinated vulnerability disclosure process.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N"
  }, {
    "type" : "CVSS_V4",
    "score" : "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:H/UI:P/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "crates.io",
      "name" : "tough"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.20.0"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/awslabs/tough/security/advisories/GHSA-5vmp-m5v2-hx47"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-2885"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/awslabs/tough/commit/0eeb60aefe27f00b65730634b788a1aafb8bf3c6"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://aws.amazon.com/security/security-bulletins/AWS-2025-007"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/awslabs/tough"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/awslabs/tough/releases/tag/tough-v0.20.0"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-1288" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2025-03-28T22:12:36Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2025-03-27T23:15:35Z"
  }
}