CVE-2025-48866Public exploitNetwork attack vector

Denial of service via quadratic argument-name storage

Published Jun 2, 2025 · Updated Jun 9, 2025

Denial of service in ModSecurity mod_security2 before 2.9.10 allows remote attackers to exhaust memory via repeated named arguments. The sanitiseArg action scans all parsed arguments for every match and repeatedly appends each same-named argument to its audit-log sanitization table. Exposure requires a rule using sanitiseArg or sanitizeArg and many same-name request arguments, producing quadratic storage growth and service interruption.

CVSS severity7.5
High
EPSS probability0.83%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Denial of service in ModSecurity mod_security2 before 2.9.10 allows remote attackers to exhaust memory via repeated named arguments. The sanitiseArg action scans all parsed arguments for every match and repeatedly appends each same-named argument to its audit-log sanitization table. Exposure requires a rule using sanitiseArg or sanitizeArg and many same-name request arguments, producing quadratic storage growth and service interruption.

The record

CVE
CVE-2025-48866
Published
Jun 2, 2025
Updated
Jun 9, 2025
Vendor
OWASP ModSecurity
Product
ModSecurity
Classifications
CWE-1050, T1499.003
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jun 2, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Jun 9, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=< 2.9.10

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

OWASP ModSecurity · ModSecurityversion=< 2.9.10

Published CVSS scores

7.5GitHub, Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-1050Excessive Platform Resource Consumption within a Loop
T1499.003Endpoint Denial of Service: Application Exhaustion Flood

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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