CVE-2024-42849 is a vulnerability identified in Silverpeas, an open-source collaborative platform, affecting versions 6.4.2 and earlier. The flaw resides in the password change function, where a remote attacker with low privileges can trigger a denial of service condition. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-400, which typically involves resource exhaustion or improper handling of resource allocation leading to service disruption. The CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.5 reflects a medium severity, with the vector indicating network attack vector (AV:N), low attack complexity (AC:L), requiring privileges (PR:L), no user interaction (UI:N), unchanged scope (S:U), no confidentiality or integrity impact (C:N/I:N), but high impact on availability (A:H). This means an attacker who has some level of authenticated access can remotely exploit the vulnerability without needing victim interaction, causing the service to become unavailable. The lack of patches or known exploits suggests this is a newly disclosed issue. The vulnerability could be exploited by sending crafted requests to the password change endpoint, potentially overwhelming the system or triggering a fault that crashes or severely degrades the service. Silverpeas is used primarily in enterprise and government environments for collaboration and content management, making availability critical. The vulnerability does not expose sensitive data or allow unauthorized changes but can disrupt operations by denying legitimate users access to the platform.

The primary impact of CVE-2024-42849 is denial of service, which can interrupt business operations relying on Silverpeas for collaboration, document management, and workflow processes. Organizations using affected versions may experience service outages or degraded performance, leading to productivity losses and potential disruption of critical workflows. Since the vulnerability requires low-level privileges, insider threats or compromised accounts could be leveraged to launch attacks. Although confidentiality and integrity are not directly affected, the availability impact can indirectly affect organizational security posture by hindering timely communication and coordination. In sectors such as government, education, and enterprises with heavy reliance on Silverpeas, this could delay decision-making and operational continuity. The absence of known exploits reduces immediate risk, but the medium severity score and ease of exploitation warrant proactive mitigation to prevent potential attacks. The lack of patches means organizations must rely on compensating controls until official fixes are released.

1. Restrict access to the password change functionality to trusted networks or VPNs to reduce exposure to remote attackers. 2. Implement strict rate limiting and throttling on the password change endpoint to prevent resource exhaustion from repeated requests. 3. Monitor logs for unusual activity related to password changes, such as spikes in requests or repeated failures, to detect potential exploitation attempts. 4. Enforce strong authentication and account security policies to minimize the risk of compromised accounts being used to exploit this vulnerability. 5. Deploy Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) with custom rules to detect and block anomalous traffic targeting the password change function. 6. Prepare for rapid patch deployment by closely following Silverpeas security advisories and applying updates as soon as they become available. 7. Consider temporary disabling or limiting the password change feature if feasible until a patch is released. 8. Conduct internal penetration testing focusing on the password change process to identify any additional weaknesses.