CVE-2025-26704

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-26704 is a privilege escalation vulnerability in ZTE GoldenDB, a distributed database product. The flaw resides in improper privilege management, allowing an authenticated local attacker to elevate their privileges within the database environment. With a CVSS score of 6.4 (Medium), this vulnerability could lead to unauthorized data access, modification, or disruption of database operations. No public proof-of-concept or patch details are currently available, but the affected versions are clearly defined.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability is not related to NPM, PyPI, Go, or Ruby ecosystems. It is a proprietary database product from ZTE, and the risk is limited to organizations deploying GoldenDB in their infrastructure.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

• CVSS Score: 6.4 (Medium)
• Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
• Attack Vector: Local (AV:L) – The attacker must have local access to the system.
• Attack Complexity: Low (AC:L) – No special conditions are required.
• Privileges Required: Low (PR:L) – The attacker needs initial low-privileged access.
• User Interaction: None (UI:N) – No user action is needed.
• Scope: Unchanged (S:U) – The vulnerability does not affect other components.
• Confidentiality Impact: High (C:H) – Full data exposure possible.
• Integrity Impact: High (I:H) – Data can be modified.
• Availability Impact: High (A:H) – Service disruption possible.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability is classified as CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management). In ZTE GoldenDB versions 6.1.03 through 6.1.03.05, the privilege management system fails to properly enforce access controls when certain internal operations are invoked. An authenticated local user with low privileges can exploit this flaw to gain elevated privileges, such as database administrator (DBA) rights.

The root cause likely involves insufficient validation of user roles or permissions during critical database operations, such as executing stored procedures, modifying configuration files, or accessing system tables. The attacker can leverage this to execute arbitrary SQL commands with higher privileges, potentially leading to full database compromise.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Since no patch details are available, a generic comparison is provided based on the vulnerability type.

Vulnerable Code (Conceptual):

-- Example of improper privilege check
CREATE PROCEDURE elevate_privilege()
BEGIN
    -- No privilege check before executing sensitive operation
    GRANT DBA TO CURRENT_USER;
END;

Patched Code (Conceptual):

-- Example of proper privilege check
CREATE PROCEDURE elevate_privilege()
BEGIN
    -- Check if user has admin privileges before proceeding
    IF (SELECT is_admin FROM users WHERE user = CURRENT_USER) = 1 THEN
        GRANT DBA TO CURRENT_USER;
    ELSE
        SIGNAL SQLSTATE '45000' SET MESSAGE_TEXT = 'Insufficient privileges';
    END IF;
END;

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team

Prerequisites:

• Local access to a ZTE GoldenDB instance running version 6.1.03 to 6.1.03.05.
• Low-privileged database credentials.

Exploitation Steps:

1. Connect to the GoldenDB instance using low-privileged credentials.
2. Identify a stored procedure or function that performs privileged operations without proper checks.
3. Execute the vulnerable procedure to escalate privileges.
4. Verify elevated access by querying system tables or performing DBA-level actions.

Example Command:

-- Connect as low-privileged user
mysql -u low_user -p -h target_host

-- Execute vulnerable procedure
CALL vulnerable_procedure();

-- Verify privilege escalation
SELECT * FROM mysql.user WHERE user = 'low_user';

Blue Team

Detection:

• Monitor for unusual privilege escalation attempts in database logs.
• Alert on execution of known vulnerable stored procedures.
• Track changes to user roles and permissions.

Hunting:

• Search for queries that grant DBA or admin roles to non-admin users.
• Look for patterns of privilege escalation in audit logs.

Mitigation:

• Restrict local access to GoldenDB servers.
• Implement least privilege principles for database accounts.
• Monitor for anomalous database activity.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Log Entries: Database audit logs showing privilege escalation events (e.g., GRANT DBA TO from a low-privileged user).
• Network Traffic: Unusual database queries from localhost.
• File System: Modified configuration files in GoldenDB installation directory.
• Processes: Unexpected database processes running with elevated privileges.

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2025_26704_GoldenDB_PrivEsc {
    meta:
        description = "Detects privilege escalation attempts in ZTE GoldenDB logs"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        reference = "CVE-2025-26704"
    strings:
        $s1 = "GRANT DBA TO" nocase
        $s2 = "privilege escalation" nocase
        $s3 = "CALL vulnerable_procedure" nocase
    condition:
        any of them
}

Sigma Rule

title: ZTE GoldenDB Privilege Escalation Attempt
id: 8a9b7c6d-5e4f-3a2b-1c0d-9e8f7a6b5c4d
status: experimental
description: Detects privilege escalation attempts in ZTE GoldenDB logs
author: Valters IT
date: 2025-04-10
logsource:
    category: database
    product: goldenDB
detection:
    selection:
        EventID: 2001
        Message|contains: 'GRANT DBA TO'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate DBA operations
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert tcp $HOME_NET any -> $EXTERNAL_NET 3306 (msg:"CVE-2025-26704 ZTE GoldenDB Privilege Escalation"; flow:to_server,established; content:"GRANT DBA TO"; nocase; classtype:attempted-admin; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Restrict local access to GoldenDB servers to only trusted administrators.
2. Review and revoke unnecessary privileges from database users.
3. Enable detailed audit logging for all database operations.

Long-term Fix:

• Apply the official patch from ZTE when it becomes available.
• Upgrade to a patched version of GoldenDB (beyond 6.1.03.05).
• Implement strict access controls and privilege management policies.

Workarounds:

• If patching is not possible, disable or restrict access to vulnerable stored procedures.
• Use database firewalls to block suspicious queries.

Valters IT
Securing Digital Frontiers