CVE-2024-25710 is a vulnerability identified in the Apache Commons Compress library, versions 1.3 through 1.25.0. The root cause is a loop with an unreachable exit condition, classified under CWE-835 (Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition), which results in an infinite loop scenario. This infinite loop can cause the affected application to become unresponsive or crash, effectively leading to a denial-of-service (DoS) condition. The vulnerability has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.1, indicating high severity. The vector indicates that exploitation requires local access (AV:L), high attack complexity (AC:H), no privileges (PR:N), and no user interaction (UI:N), but the scope is changed (S:C), meaning the vulnerability can affect components beyond the initially vulnerable one. The impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability is rated high, suggesting that the infinite loop could be leveraged to disrupt service availability and potentially cause cascading failures in dependent systems. Apache Commons Compress is a widely used Java library for handling compression and decompression of archive files in various formats. It is embedded in many enterprise applications, middleware, and cloud services. The vulnerability was publicly disclosed on February 19, 2024, with no known exploits in the wild at the time of publication. The recommended remediation is to upgrade to version 1.26.0, which addresses the infinite loop condition. Given the library’s widespread use, the vulnerability poses a significant risk to any software stack that incorporates it without the patch.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2024-25710 can be substantial. Many enterprises and public sector entities in Europe rely on Java-based applications that use Apache Commons Compress for data processing, archival, and transmission. An infinite loop vulnerability can cause critical systems to hang or crash, leading to denial of service. This can disrupt business operations, cause downtime, and potentially lead to data loss or corruption if the application state is compromised. Sectors such as finance, telecommunications, healthcare, and government services are particularly sensitive to availability disruptions. Additionally, the changed scope of the vulnerability means that exploitation could affect multiple components or services within an organization’s infrastructure, amplifying the impact. Although exploitation requires local access and has high complexity, insider threats or compromised internal systems could leverage this vulnerability to degrade service reliability. The absence of known exploits in the wild reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the threat, especially as attackers may develop exploits over time.

To mitigate CVE-2024-25710, European organizations should: 1) Immediately inventory all software and systems that include Apache Commons Compress versions 1.3 through 1.25.0. 2) Prioritize upgrading these components to version 1.26.0, which contains the fix for the infinite loop vulnerability. 3) For systems where immediate upgrade is not feasible, implement runtime monitoring to detect abnormal CPU usage or application hangs indicative of infinite loops. 4) Restrict local access to critical systems to trusted personnel only, reducing the risk of exploitation given the local attack vector. 5) Conduct thorough testing of updated components in staging environments to ensure compatibility and stability before production deployment. 6) Review internal security policies to detect and prevent insider threats that could exploit this vulnerability. 7) Maintain up-to-date backups and incident response plans to quickly recover from potential denial-of-service incidents. 8) Monitor security advisories and threat intelligence feeds for any emerging exploits targeting this vulnerability.