Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-53901

Bytecodealliance Wasmtime ≤ 24.0.4

Published
18 July 2025
Modified
17 June 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 3.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
EPSS Score 0.0031 23th percentile
Risk Priority 31 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-53901 is a low-severity Operation on a Resource after Expiration or Release (CWE-672) vulnerability in Bytecodealliance Wasmtime. Its CVSS base score is 3.5 (Low).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 23th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and IA-5 (Authenticator Management) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Wasmtime is a runtime for WebAssembly. Prior to versions 24.0.4, 33.0.2, and 34.0.2, a bug in Wasmtime's implementation of the WASIp1 set of import functions can lead to a WebAssembly guest inducing a panic in the host (embedder). The specific…

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bug is triggered by calling `path_open` after calling `fd_renumber` with either two equal argument values or a second argument being equal to a previously-closed file descriptor number value. The corrupt state introduced in `fd_renumber` will lead to the subsequent opening of a file descriptor to panic. This panic cannot introduce memory unsafety or allow WebAssembly to break outside of its sandbox, however. There is no possible heap corruption or memory unsafety from this panic. This bug is in the implementation of Wasmtime's `wasmtime-wasi` crate which provides an implementation of WASIp1. The bug requires a specially crafted call to `fd_renumber` in addition to the ability to open a subsequent file descriptor. Opening a second file descriptor is only possible when a preopened directory was provided to the guest, and this is common amongst embeddings. A panic in the host is considered a denial-of-service vector for WebAssembly embedders and is thus a security issue in Wasmtime. This bug does not affect WASIp2 and embedders using components. In accordance with Wasmtime's release process, patch releases are available as 24.0.4, 33.0.2, and 34.0.2. Users of other release of Wasmtime are recommended to move to a supported release of Wasmtime. Embedders who are using components or are not providing guest access to create more file descriptors (e.g. via a preopened filesystem directory) are not affected by this issue. Otherwise, there is no workaround at this time, and affected embeddings are recommended to update to a patched version which will not cause a panic in the host.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-30266Same product: Bytecodealliance Wasmtime
CVE-2023-41880Same product: Bytecodealliance Wasmtime
CVE-2026-34983Same product: Bytecodealliance Wasmtime
CVE-2026-34945Same product: Bytecodealliance Wasmtime
CVE-2026-24116Same product: Bytecodealliance Wasmtime
CVE-2026-34941Same product: Bytecodealliance Wasmtime
CVE-2026-34942Same product: Bytecodealliance Wasmtime
CVE-2026-34988Same product: Bytecodealliance Wasmtime
CVE-2023-30624Same product: Bytecodealliance Wasmtime
CVE-2026-34987Same product: Bytecodealliance Wasmtime

Affected Assets

bytecodealliance
wasmtime
≤ 24.0.4 · 33.0.0 — 33.0.2 · 34.0.0 — 34.0.2

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 1 hardening rule · 1 OS baseline
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Access enforcement applies current authorizations to every request, directly blocking operations once a resource has been revoked or released.

Authenticator management mandates revocation and replacement procedures that render expired credentials unusable.

Account lifecycle management includes explicit revocation and disabling steps that stop subsequent operations on released accounts or identifiers.

Identifier management requires deallocation and reuse controls that prevent continued use of released identifiers.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.AA-05 mostly match
prevents

Enforcing managed authorizations and revocations directly prevents post-release operations on credentials or entitlements.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure development practices eliminate the root coding flaw that permits use-after-release.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

finds

Security testing can detect use-after-release but does not prevent it at runtime.

degrades

Enforces timely deletion of resources so they cannot be used after release.

prevents

Secure-coding rules require checks that prevent operations on freed or expired objects.

prevents

Change-management processes can introduce or remove resource-lifetime controls.

References