---
id: CVE-2025-11578
title: >-
  A privilege escalation vulnerability was identified in GitHub Enterprise
  Server that allowed an authenticated Enterprise admin to gain root SSH access
  to the appliance by exploiting a symlink escape in pre-receive hook
  environments
summary: >-
  A privilege escalation vulnerability was identified in GitHub Enterprise
  Server that allowed an authenticated Enterprise admin to gain root SSH access
  to the appliance by exploiting a symlink escape in pre-receive hook
  environments. By c…
severity: high
cvss: 7.2
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'
cwe:
  - CWE-59
vendor: github
product: enterprise_server
affected:
  - 'enterprise_server >= 3.14.0, < 3.14.20'
  - 'enterprise_server >= 3.15.0, < 3.15.15'
  - 'enterprise_server >= 3.16.0, < 3.16.11'
  - 'enterprise_server >= 3.17.0, < 3.17.8'
  - 'enterprise_server >= 3.18.0, < 3.18.2'
patched:
  - enterprise_server 3.18.2
published: '2025-11-10'
updated: '2026-10-07'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-07T21:10:00.200'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-11578'
references:
  - url: >-
      https://docs.github.com/en/enterprise-server@3.14/admin/release-notes#3.14.20
    label: product-cna@github.com
  - url: >-
      https://docs.github.com/en/enterprise-server@3.15/admin/release-notes#3.15.15
    label: product-cna@github.com
  - url: >-
      https://docs.github.com/en/enterprise-server@3.16/admin/release-notes#3.16.11
    label: product-cna@github.com
  - url: >-
      https://docs.github.com/en/enterprise-server@3.17/admin/release-notes#3.17.8
    label: product-cna@github.com
  - url: >-
      https://docs.github.com/en/enterprise-server@3.18/admin/release-notes#3.18.2
    label: product-cna@github.com
tags:
  - nvd
epss: 0.00659
epssPercentile: 0.49973
ingestedAt: '2026-10-07T21:54:15.009Z'
---

## Overview

A privilege escalation vulnerability was identified in GitHub Enterprise Server that allowed an authenticated Enterprise admin to gain root SSH access to the appliance by exploiting a symlink escape in pre-receive hook environments. By crafting a malicious repository and environment, an attacker could replace system binaries during hook cleanup and execute a payload that adds their own SSH key to the root user’s authorized keys—thereby granting themselves root SSH access to the server. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker needed to have enterprise admin privileges. This vulnerability affected all versions of GitHub Enterprise Server prior to 3.19, and was fixed in versions 3.14.20, 3.15.15, 3.16.11, 3.17.8, 3.18.2. This vulnerability was reported via the GitHub Bug Bounty program.

## Affected

- `enterprise_server >= 3.14.0, < 3.14.20`
- `enterprise_server >= 3.15.0, < 3.15.15`
- `enterprise_server >= 3.16.0, < 3.16.11`
- `enterprise_server >= 3.17.0, < 3.17.8`
- `enterprise_server >= 3.18.0, < 3.18.2`

## Remediation

Upgrade past the affected range:

- `enterprise_server 3.18.2`