Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2025-48039 is a resource-exhaustion flaw in Erlang/OTP's SSH SFTP server code. An authenticated network user could cause excessive system resource use through unverified paths. The documented impact is limited availability loss, not data theft or code execution.
Executive priority
Treat this as a moderate availability risk. Prioritize systems exposing Erlang-based SFTP to customers, partners, or broad internal user groups, especially where service interruption would affect operations.
Technical view
The issue is in Erlang OTP ssh_sftp modules, associated with lib/ssh/src/ssh_sftpd.erl. It is classified as CWE-400 and CWE-770: uncontrolled or insufficiently limited resource allocation. CVSS v4.0 is 5.3 with network access, low complexity, low privileges required, no user interaction, and low availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely where Erlang/OTP SSH SFTP server functionality is enabled and reachable by authenticated users. The bundle lists OTP 17.0 through versions before the vendor's named fixed release lines, corresponding to affected ssh package versions.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or cited evidence of active exploitation. The CVSS vector requires low privileges, so unauthenticated internet scanning alone is not enough; valid access to the SSH/SFTP service is relevant.
Researcher notes
The provided evidence supports resource exhaustion in ssh_sftpd path handling, but not confidentiality, integrity, remote code execution, or active exploitation. Version wording should be validated against Erlang's advisory and OTP version-order guidance before final asset matching.
Mitigation direction
- Check Erlang's advisory for the fixed OTP and ssh package versions.
- Upgrade affected OTP release lines to vendor-supported fixed releases.
- Restrict network access to Erlang SSH/SFTP services where possible.
- Review SFTP account access and remove unnecessary users.
- Monitor affected hosts for abnormal memory, process, or file-handle growth.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Erlang/OTP versions across hosts, containers, and build images.
- Identify services using Erlang OTP ssh_sftp or ssh_sftpd functionality.
- Compare installed OTP and ssh versions against the vendor advisory.
- Confirm patched builds include the referenced upstream PR or commits.
- Review logs and metrics for resource spikes tied to SFTP activity.
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-400: 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 lookupCWE-770: 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-2025-48039 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
- 5.3 (4.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
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:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N——EEFVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 4.0 score
5.3MediumVector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
- 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
- https://github.com/erlang/otp/security/advisories/GHSA-rr5p-6856-j7h8CVE reference, EEF · vendor-advisory, related
- https://cna.erlef.org/cves/CVE-2025-48039.htmlCVE reference, EEF · related
- https://osv.dev/vulnerability/EEF-CVE-2025-48039CVE reference, EEF · related
- https://www.erlang.org/doc/system/versions.html#order-of-versionsCVE reference, EEF · x_version-scheme
- https://github.com/erlang/otp/pull/10155CVE reference, EEF · patch
- https://github.com/erlang/otp/commit/c242e6458967e9514bea351814151695807a54acCVE reference, EEF · patch
- https://github.com/erlang/otp/commit/043ee3c943e2977c1acdd740ad13992fd60b6bf0CVE reference, EEF · patch
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.
Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
Uncontrolled Resource Consumption represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.
Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling
Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.