External risk intelligence

MaxKB Sandbox Escape and Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

CVE advisorySeverity: CRITICAL (CVSS 10.0)

CVE-2025-66419

MaxKB is an AI assistant platform designed for enterprise use, which typically functions as a web-based application or service. These systems are commonly deployed as internet-facing interfaces to facilitate user interaction, making the web application surface a common and expected deployment pattern for this type of product.

Halo Surface Signal: 4 out of 5 — likely to be public-facing.

External exposure likelihood

Horizon Alert

Summary of the vulnerability and why it matters

An open-source AI assistant for enterprise, MaxKB, has a critical vulnerability that could allow an attacker to bypass security controls and gain elevated privileges. This issue is present in older versions of the software and has been addressed in a newer release. The primary concern is to confirm if your organization uses this specific AI assistant and, if so, to verify its version.

  • Attackers can bypass controls and gain elevated privileges.
  • Confirms relevance and exposure of this critical vulnerability.
  • Verify MaxKB usage and version for potential impact.

Attack Path

How an attacker could exploit the issue

An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending specially crafted requests to the MaxKB tool module. If multiple requests occur simultaneously, the attacker could escape the tool's sandbox, gaining elevated privileges on the system.

  • Entry Condition: No authentication required.
  • Trigger Point: Concurrent requests to the tool module.
  • Resulting Risk: Sandbox escape and privilege escalation.

Live Threat

Current exploitation, exposure, and threat context

When supported by the advisory's conditions, an attacker could potentially break out of the MaxKB sandbox and escalate privileges. This could affect the integrity and availability of the system.

  • System integrity and availability at risk.
  • Sandbox escape via tool module.
  • Privilege escalation possible.

Operational Fix

Recommended remediation, mitigation, and detection steps

This critical vulnerability in MaxKB's tool module likely impacts platform or infrastructure teams responsible for AI and enterprise solutions. The first practical step is to identify all MaxKB instances, assess their exposure and criticality, and then assign an accountable owner for remediation planning.

  • Platform/Infrastructure teams own this issue.
  • Verify MaxKB reachability and business criticality.
  • Plan remediation based on risk and vendor coordination.

Supplementary metadata

Validate whether this threat affects your internet-facing exposure.

Halo Threat Intelligence helps prioritize remediation with Halo Surface Signal and H/A/L/O context. Start exposure validation with a free external attack surface trial.

Frequently asked questions

What is MaxKB?

MaxKB is an open-source AI assistant platform built for enterprise environments. It helps organizations integrate AI capabilities into their workflows through a web-based interface, acting as a central tool for managing AI-driven interactions and backend tasks.

What does CWE-362 mean for CVE-2025-66419?

CWE-362 refers to a race condition. In this context, it means the security flaw arises when the system handles multiple tasks at the exact same time. Because the software processes concurrent requests to its tool module improperly, it creates a timing gap that allows unauthorized actions.

How is the MaxKB sandbox bypassed?

An attacker triggers this by sending multiple requests to the tool module simultaneously. If a user only sends a single, isolated request, the vulnerability is not triggered. The sandbox escape relies specifically on these overlapping or concurrent operations.

Is my MaxKB instance at risk?

According to Halo Surface Signal, MaxKB is often deployed as an internet-facing application to support user interaction, which typically increases accessibility for unauthorized parties. If your instance is reachable over the internet, it is more likely to be exposed to this network-based vulnerability.

What should I do to secure MaxKB?

The primary response is to update your software to version 2.4.0 or higher, which contains the fix for this issue. Before applying the update, perform an inventory of all MaxKB instances in your environment to ensure every deployment is identified and patched.

References