Skip to main content

Wolfram Cloud version 14.2 exposes risks of privilege escalation

Source Decision Insights Threat Desk Published November 11, 2025
Human View Machine View

Best suited for

Persona
Security Architect
Decision stage
Which to buy
Adoption curve
Early Majority

Our classification, not the publisher's statement. Best suited for, not only for.

Overview

Wolfram Cloud version 14.2 allows Java Virtual Machine (VM) (JVM) unrestricted access to temporary resources in the /tmp/ directory of the cloud environment which may result in privilege escalation, information exfiltration, and remote code execution. In the same cloud instance, temporary directories of other users may be accessible.

Description

Wolfram Cloud is a multi-tenant cloud platform that supports a virtual “notebook” interface for easier programming and accessibility to tools for quickly building and publishing integrated applications. In this architecture, the instance kernel /tmp/ directory is shared, but with access permissions. Excepting the JVM initialization file, these temporary directories usually do not contain sensitive information. A newly discovered race condition allows attackers to poison the classpath via the shared /tmp/ directory during JVM initializaiton. If an attacker can approximate when users would be launching the JVM, access to an unprotected temporary directory may be successful. The cause is the implementation of the virtual environment by the hosting platform which manages access to temporary files in a multi-tenant cloud environment. A successful attack will give the attacker access to the temporary directories of other users.

Impact

An attacker that accesses the shared /tmp/ directory of the instance can potentially achieve privilege escalation, information exfiltration, and remote code execution. This constitutes a Technical Impact = Total under the SSVC framework, meaning:

The vulnerability gives the adversary total control over the behavior of the software or total disclosure of all information on the affected system.

Solution

The CERT/CC recommends updating Wolfram Cloud to version 14.2.1.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the reporter Peter Roberge from Pointer Cybersecurity. This document was written by Laurie Tyzenhaus and Renae Metcalf.

Vendor Information

One or more vendors are listed for this advisory. Please reference the full report for more information.

References

Other Information

Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) Intrusion Detection System (IDS): CVE-2025-11919
Date Public: 2025-11-11
Date First Published: 2025-11-11
Date Last Updated: 2025-11-11 22:09 UTC
Document Revision: 1

Blog post, originally published at kb.cert.org.

Mentions

Structured data (JSON-LD)

The schema.org markup this page publishes for search engines and AI agents, exactly as they read it.

[
  {
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@id": "https://decisioninsights.ai/#website",
    "@type": "WebSite",
    "name": "Decision Insights",
    "potentialAction": {
      "@type": "SearchAction",
      "target": {
        "@type": "EntryPoint",
        "urlTemplate": "https://decisioninsights.ai/search/?q={search_term_string}&submit=1"
      }
    },
    "publisher": {
      "@id": "https://decisioninsights.ai/#organization"
    },
    "url": "https://decisioninsights.ai"
  },
  {
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@id": "https://decisioninsights.ai/#organization",
    "@type": "Organization",
    "contactPoint": {
      "@type": "ContactPoint",
      "contactType": "customer support",
      "email": "[email protected]"
    },
    "description": "Decision Insights is a Registry of technology companies, open source projects, and industry terms, built for people and for AI agents that need sourced, structured information.",
    "logo": {
      "@type": "ImageObject",
      "url": "https://wiretap-cdn-assets.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/decision-insights/[email protected]"
    },
    "name": "Decision Insights",
    "parentOrganization": {
      "@type": "Organization",
      "name": "Wiretap Labs",
      "sameAs": [
        "https://www.linkedin.com/company/wiretap-labs",
        "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/wiretap-labs"
      ],
      "url": "https://wiretaplabs.com"
    },
    "publishingPrinciples": "https://decisioninsights.ai/standards/",
    "sameAs": [
      "https://www.linkedin.com/company/decisioninsights"
    ],
    "url": "https://decisioninsights.ai"
  },
  {
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
    "itemListElement": [
      {
        "@type": "ListItem",
        "item": "https://decisioninsights.ai",
        "name": "Decision Insights",
        "position": 1
      },
      {
        "@type": "ListItem",
        "item": "https://decisioninsights.ai/records/",
        "name": "Records",
        "position": 2
      },
      {
        "@type": "ListItem",
        "item": "https://decisioninsights.ai/wolfram-cloud-version-14-2-exposes-risks-of-privilege-escalation/",
        "name": "Wolfram Cloud version 14.2 exposes risks of privilege escalation",
        "position": 3
      }
    ]
  },
  {
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@id": "https://decisioninsights.ai/wolfram-cloud-version-14-2-exposes-risks-of-privilege-escalation/#blogposting",
    "@type": "BlogPosting",
    "audience": [
      {
        "@type": "Audience",
        "additionalType": "Persona",
        "audienceType": "Security Architect"
      },
      {
        "@type": "Audience",
        "additionalType": "Adoption curve",
        "audienceType": "Early Majority"
      }
    ],
    "author": {
      "@id": "https://decisioninsights.ai/author/decision-insights-threat-desk/#person",
      "@type": "Person",
      "name": "Decision Insights Threat Desk",
      "url": "https://decisioninsights.ai/author/decision-insights-threat-desk/"
    },
    "dateModified": "2026-08-27T18:06:56-06:00",
    "datePublished": "2025-11-11T16:00:24-07:00",
    "description": "Wolfram Cloud version 14.2 lets Java Virtual Machine access unprotected directories, leading to potential privilege escalation.",
    "headline": "Wolfram Cloud version 14.2 exposes risks of privilege escalation",
    "isBasedOn": {
      "@type": "CreativeWork",
      "sourceOrganization": {
        "@id": "https://decisioninsights.ai/registry/department-of-homeland-security/#organization",
        "@type": "Organization",
        "mainEntityOfPage": "https://decisioninsights.ai/registry/department-of-homeland-security/",
        "name": "Department of Homeland Security"
      },
      "url": "https://kb.cert.org/vuls/id/553375"
    },
    "keywords": [
      "Cloud",
      "Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures",
      "Intrusion Detection System",
      "Multitenant",
      "Virtual Machine",
      "Vulnerabilities"
    ],
    "mainEntityOfPage": {
      "@id": "https://decisioninsights.ai/wolfram-cloud-version-14-2-exposes-risks-of-privilege-escalation/",
      "@type": "WebPage",
      "sdDatePublished": "2026-08-28",
      "sdPublisher": {
        "@id": "https://decisioninsights.ai/#organization"
      }
    },
    "publisher": {
      "@id": "https://decisioninsights.ai/#organization"
    }
  },
  {
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@id": "https://decisioninsights.ai/author/decision-insights-threat-desk/#person",
    "@type": "Person",
    "description": "CISA advisories, vendor security bulletins, and CVE disclosures, summarized into sourced briefs. Produced under our Standards & Methodology.",
    "name": "Decision Insights Threat Desk",
    "sameAs": [
      "https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/decisioninsights/"
    ],
    "url": "https://decisioninsights.ai/author/decision-insights-threat-desk/"
  }
]

Is this your company? Get structured data for your own pages