CVE-2025-48392 Overview
A resource exhaustion vulnerability has been identified in Apache IoTDB, the popular open-source time series database designed for IoT workloads. This vulnerability (CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption) allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service condition by exhausting system resources without requiring authentication.
Critical Impact
Unauthenticated remote attackers can cause denial of service by exhausting system resources, potentially disrupting critical IoT data collection and analysis operations.
Affected Products
- Apache IoTDB versions 1.3.3 through 1.3.4
- Apache IoTDB versions 2.0.1-beta through 2.0.4
- Deployments exposed to untrusted network traffic
Discovery Timeline
- September 24, 2025 - CVE-2025-48392 published to NVD
- November 4, 2025 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2025-48392
Vulnerability Analysis
This vulnerability stems from improper handling of resource consumption within Apache IoTDB. The flaw allows attackers to trigger uncontrolled resource exhaustion through network-accessible vectors, leading to denial of service conditions. Since no user interaction or authentication is required, the vulnerability can be exploited remotely by any attacker with network access to the affected IoTDB instance.
The impact primarily affects system availability. While confidentiality and integrity are not directly compromised, the denial of service condition can severely impact IoT data collection pipelines and time-series analytics operations that depend on Apache IoTDB for data storage and retrieval.
Root Cause
The vulnerability is classified under CWE-400 (Uncontrolled Resource Consumption), indicating that the application fails to properly limit or manage the allocation of system resources. This can occur when processing certain requests or data inputs that consume excessive memory, CPU cycles, or other system resources without proper bounds checking or rate limiting.
Attack Vector
The vulnerability is exploitable over the network with low attack complexity. An attacker does not require any privileges or user interaction to exploit this flaw. The attack can be initiated remotely against any exposed Apache IoTDB instance, making it particularly dangerous for deployments accessible from untrusted networks or the internet.
The exploitation mechanism involves sending crafted requests that trigger excessive resource consumption within the IoTDB server, eventually leading to service degradation or complete unavailability.
Detection Methods for CVE-2025-48392
Indicators of Compromise
- Unusual spikes in memory consumption on Apache IoTDB server processes
- Abnormal CPU utilization patterns without corresponding legitimate workload increases
- Increased frequency of out-of-memory errors or service restarts
- Unexpected network traffic patterns targeting IoTDB service ports
Detection Strategies
- Monitor Apache IoTDB process resource utilization for anomalous consumption patterns
- Implement network-level monitoring to detect unusual request volumes or patterns
- Configure alerting thresholds for memory and CPU consumption on IoTDB nodes
- Review application logs for error messages indicating resource exhaustion conditions
Monitoring Recommendations
- Deploy application performance monitoring (APM) tools to track IoTDB resource metrics
- Establish baseline resource consumption profiles for normal operations
- Configure automated alerts when resource utilization exceeds established thresholds
- Implement network traffic analysis to identify potential denial of service attempts
How to Mitigate CVE-2025-48392
Immediate Actions Required
- Upgrade Apache IoTDB to version 2.0.5 or later, which contains the fix for this vulnerability
- Restrict network access to Apache IoTDB instances using firewall rules or network segmentation
- Implement rate limiting on network connections to IoTDB services
- Monitor systems for signs of active exploitation while planning upgrade activities
Patch Information
Apache has released version 2.0.5 which resolves this vulnerability. Users running affected versions (1.3.3-1.3.4 or 2.0.1-beta through 2.0.4) are strongly recommended to upgrade immediately. For detailed patch information and upgrade instructions, refer to the Apache Mailing List Thread.
Additional security context is available via the OpenWall OSS-Security Update.
Workarounds
- Implement network-level access controls to restrict connectivity to trusted sources only
- Deploy a reverse proxy or load balancer with rate limiting capabilities in front of IoTDB
- Configure resource limits (memory, CPU) for the IoTDB process using containerization or OS-level controls
- Enable monitoring and alerting to detect and respond to resource exhaustion attacks quickly
# Example: Restrict IoTDB port access using iptables (adjust port as needed)
# Allow only trusted networks to access IoTDB
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 6667 -s 10.0.0.0/8 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 6667 -j DROP
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
