Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Libsoup can leak memory when processing a specially formed quality list containing all-zero elements. Repeated triggering may consume available memory and disrupt affected applications or services. The evidence indicates an availability risk, not data theft or modification.
Executive priority
Schedule remediation through the normal vulnerability cycle, accelerating systems where memory exhaustion could interrupt critical services. This is not supported as an emergency exploitation event, but exposed, long-running, or high-availability applications deserve prompt review because successful triggering may cause denial of service.
Technical view
CVE-2025-46420 is a CWE-401 memory leak in soup_header_parse_quality_list(). The supplied CVSS 3.1 score is 6.5, with network reachability, low complexity, no privileges, required user interaction, and high availability impact. Exact application-level reachability depends on whether attacker-influenced quality lists reach this function.
Likely exposure
The bundle identifies specified libsoup packages across RHEL 8 and RHEL 9 streams as affected. RHEL 10 libsoup3 is listed unaffected; RHEL 6 and 7 status is unknown. Actual exposure requires an application using the vulnerable parser on untrusted input.
Exploitation context
The bundle does not report known active exploitation, and the CVE is not listed as KEV. Exploitation would require vulnerable software to process a crafted quality list; the supplied CVSS vector also indicates user interaction is required. No evidence here establishes widespread weaponization.
Researcher notes
The confirmed defect is limited to a memory leak involving all-zero quality-list elements. The bundle does not establish code execution, confidentiality loss, integrity impact, exploit availability, or precise trigger frequency. Package status is clearest for listed RHEL streams; broader upstream and downstream version boundaries remain incomplete.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory libsoup packages and dependent applications across RHEL 8 and RHEL 9 systems.
- Review the applicable Red Hat advisory for supported security updates and remediation instructions.
- Apply vendor-provided updates through established change control, prioritizing exposed or availability-critical services.
- Restrict untrusted quality-list input where operationally feasible until remediation is complete.
- Consult vendor guidance for RHEL 6, RHEL 7, and other distributions with unclear status.
Validation and detection
- Compare installed libsoup versions and product streams against the applicable Red Hat advisory.
- Identify applications that pass externally influenced quality lists to libsoup parsing functions.
- Confirm patched package installation and restart affected applications when vendor guidance requires it.
- Monitor exposed processes for abnormal memory growth, exhaustion, or repeated availability failures.
- Re-scan systems after remediation and document unresolved products with unknown vendor status.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-401: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2025-46420 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Medium
- CVSS
- 6.5 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
SSVC decision data
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H2.83.6redhatVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
6.5MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
- Source timelineredhat
Made public.
- Source timelineredhat
Reported to Red Hat.
- CVE reservedCVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
- CVE publishedCVE Program
The CVE record was published.
- CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- RHSA-2025:4439CVE reference, redhat · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHSA-2025:4440CVE reference, redhat · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHSA-2025:4508CVE reference, redhat · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHSA-2025:4538CVE reference, redhat · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHSA-2025:4560CVE reference, redhat · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHSA-2025:4568CVE reference, redhat · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHSA-2025:4609CVE reference, redhat · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHSA-2025:4624CVE reference, redhat · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHSA-2025:7436CVE reference, redhat · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-46420CVE reference, redhat · vdb-entry, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHBZ#2361963CVE reference, redhat · issue-tracking, x_refsource_REDHAT
- https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/libsoup/-/issues/438CVE reference, redhat
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime
Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.