CVE-2022-25892 is a high-severity Denial of Service (DoS) vulnerability affecting the muhammara package versions before 2.6.1 and from 3.0.0 up to 3.1.1, as well as all versions of the related hummus package. Muhammara and hummus are JavaScript libraries used for parsing and manipulating PDF files. The vulnerability arises when these libraries process a maliciously crafted PDF file, which can trigger a DoS condition. Specifically, the flaw allows an attacker to cause the application using these libraries to become unresponsive or crash by exploiting how the PDF parsing logic handles certain crafted inputs. The vulnerability does not impact confidentiality or integrity but severely affects availability, as the targeted application or service may become unavailable. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 7.5, indicating a high severity level. The vector indicates that the attack can be executed remotely (AV:N), requires no privileges (PR:N), and no user interaction (UI:N), making exploitation relatively straightforward. No known exploits are reported in the wild, but the vulnerability's nature suggests it could be weaponized in denial-of-service attacks against services that parse PDFs using these libraries. No patches or vendor project details are provided in the source data, but upgrading to versions beyond 2.6.1 or 3.1.1 is implied to mitigate the issue. The vulnerability is relevant to any software or service that integrates these libraries for PDF processing, including web applications, document management systems, or automated PDF processing pipelines.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2022-25892 can be significant, especially for those relying on muhammara or hummus libraries within their document processing workflows. Industries such as legal, finance, government, and publishing, which frequently handle PDF documents, may experience service disruptions if malicious PDFs are processed. The DoS condition could lead to downtime of critical services, impacting business continuity and potentially causing operational delays. Since the vulnerability can be exploited remotely without authentication or user interaction, attackers can target exposed services at scale. This could be leveraged in targeted attacks or as part of broader denial-of-service campaigns. Additionally, organizations subject to strict availability requirements under regulations like the EU NIS Directive or GDPR may face compliance risks if service outages occur. While confidentiality and data integrity are not directly compromised, the unavailability of services can indirectly affect organizational reputation and trust. The lack of known exploits in the wild reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the threat, especially as public disclosure may prompt attackers to develop exploits.

European organizations should take the following specific mitigation steps: 1) Identify all internal and external applications and services that use muhammara or hummus libraries for PDF processing. 2) Upgrade muhammara to version 2.6.1 or later, and ensure hummus is replaced or updated to versions not affected by this vulnerability. 3) Implement input validation and filtering to block or sandbox untrusted PDF files before parsing, reducing the risk of malicious payloads triggering the DoS. 4) Employ rate limiting and anomaly detection on PDF upload endpoints to detect and mitigate potential abuse. 5) Monitor application logs for unusual crashes or performance degradation related to PDF processing. 6) Consider isolating PDF processing components in separate containers or microservices to limit the blast radius of a DoS event. 7) Stay updated with vendor advisories and community patches related to these libraries. 8) Conduct penetration testing and fuzzing on PDF handling components to identify other potential weaknesses. These measures go beyond generic advice by focusing on the specific libraries and operational contexts relevant to this vulnerability.