CVE-2025-52579
Published: 11 July 2025
Summary
CVE-2025-52579 is a critical-severity Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information in Memory (CWE-316) vulnerability in Emerson ValveLink Products (inferred from references). Its CVSS base score is 9.4 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Unsecured Credentials (T1552); ranked at the 41.8th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 SC-28 (Protection of Information at Rest) and SI-16 (Memory Protection).
Threat & Defense at a Glance
Threat & Defense Details
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5)AI
Directly implements safeguards to protect sensitive information stored in cleartext memory from unauthorized access, disclosure via core dumps, or uncleared regions.
Protects sensitive information persisted to disk from memory saves or core dumps using cryptographic or access control mechanisms.
Enforces configuration settings to disable core dump generation and ensure proper memory clearing before freeing or on crash.
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Vulnerability stores sensitive data (likely credentials) in cleartext memory that can persist to disk or dumps, directly enabling unsecured credential access and file-based retrieval.
NVD Description
Emerson ValveLink Products store sensitive information in cleartext in memory. The sensitive memory might be saved to disk, stored in a core dump, or remain uncleared if the product crashes, or if the programmer does not properly clear the memory…
more
before freeing it.
Deeper analysisAI
CVE-2025-52579 is a vulnerability in Emerson ValveLink Products that involves the storage of sensitive information in cleartext within memory. This sensitive memory content may be persisted to disk, captured in a core dump, or left uncleared during product crashes or improper memory freeing by programmers. The issue, published on 2025-07-11, carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.4 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L) and maps to CWE-316 (Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information).
Remote attackers require no privileges or user interaction to exploit the vulnerability over the network with low complexity. Exploitation can result in high confidentiality and integrity impacts—such as unauthorized disclosure or alteration of sensitive data—alongside low availability disruption, typically through access to memory dumps, disk saves, or residual uncleared memory.
Mitigation guidance is available in official advisories, including the CISA ICSA-25-189-01 at https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/ics-advisories/icsa-25-189-01, Emerson security notifications at https://www.emerson.com/en-us/support/security-notifications, and software downloads at https://www.emerson.com/en-us/support/software-downloads-drivers.
Details
- CWE(s)