CVE-2022-3456 is a medium-severity vulnerability classified under CWE-770, which pertains to the allocation of resources without limits or throttling. This vulnerability affects the GitHub project ikus060/rdiffweb, a web-based interface for the rdiff-backup tool, prior to version 2.5.0. The flaw arises because the application does not impose adequate restrictions on resource allocation during its operations, potentially allowing an attacker with limited privileges (low privileges) and requiring user interaction to trigger excessive resource consumption. The CVSS 3.0 vector (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L) indicates that the attack requires local access, low attack complexity, low privileges, and user interaction, with unchanged scope. The impact affects integrity (high) and availability (low), but not confidentiality. Specifically, an attacker could exploit this vulnerability to manipulate the application into consuming excessive system resources, leading to potential data integrity issues or service degradation. Since the vulnerability is in a backup-related web interface, improper resource handling could disrupt backup operations or corrupt backup data integrity, which is critical for data recovery processes. No known exploits have been reported in the wild, and no official patches are linked, but upgrading to version 2.5.0 or later is implied to resolve the issue.

For European organizations, particularly those relying on rdiffweb for backup management, this vulnerability poses risks to the integrity and availability of backup data. Disruption or corruption of backups can severely impact business continuity and disaster recovery capabilities. Organizations in sectors with stringent data integrity requirements, such as finance, healthcare, and critical infrastructure, could face operational disruptions or compliance issues if backups are compromised. The requirement for local access and user interaction limits remote exploitation but does not eliminate insider threat risks or attacks via social engineering. Additionally, resource exhaustion could degrade system performance, affecting other services running on the same infrastructure. Given the medium severity and the nature of the vulnerability, the impact is moderate but significant in environments where rdiffweb is integral to backup workflows.

European organizations should prioritize upgrading the ikus060/rdiffweb software to version 2.5.0 or later, where this vulnerability is addressed. In environments where immediate upgrading is not feasible, implementing strict access controls to limit local access to trusted users is critical. Employing application-level resource limits or operating system-level controls (such as cgroups on Linux) can help throttle resource consumption by the rdiffweb process. Monitoring system resource usage and setting alerts for unusual spikes can provide early detection of exploitation attempts. Additionally, educating users about the risks of interacting with untrusted content or links that could trigger the vulnerability is important to reduce user interaction risks. Regularly auditing backup integrity and maintaining offline or immutable backup copies can mitigate the impact of potential data integrity compromises.