CVE-2025-11044 is a vulnerability classified under CWE-770 (Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling) found in the ANSL-Server component of B&R Industrial Automation GmbH's Automation Runtime product. The flaw exists in versions prior to 6.5 and prior to R4.93. It arises from improper handling of resource allocation, where the system fails to impose limits or throttling on resource requests. An unauthenticated attacker on the network can exploit a race condition to repeatedly allocate resources, overwhelming the system and causing a permanent denial-of-service (DoS) condition. This vulnerability does not require any user interaction or authentication, making it remotely exploitable with low complexity. The CVSS 4.0 base score of 8.9 reflects the vulnerability's high impact on availability and the ease with which it can be exploited. The lack of known exploits in the wild suggests it is either newly discovered or not yet weaponized, but the potential for disruption in industrial environments is significant. The Automation Runtime is widely used in industrial control systems (ICS) and manufacturing automation, where availability is critical. The vulnerability could disrupt production lines, cause safety system failures, or halt critical infrastructure operations. The race condition and resource exhaustion nature of the flaw mean that attackers can cause persistent outages until the system is manually recovered or rebooted. No patches are currently linked, indicating that organizations must monitor vendor advisories closely. Network segmentation, access control, and monitoring for anomalous traffic targeting the ANSL-Server component are essential interim defenses.

For European organizations, especially those in manufacturing, energy, and critical infrastructure sectors, this vulnerability poses a significant risk of operational disruption. B&R Automation Runtime is commonly deployed in industrial environments across Europe, where availability and reliability are paramount. Exploitation could lead to prolonged downtime of industrial control systems, resulting in production losses, safety hazards, and potential cascading effects on supply chains. The permanent denial-of-service condition could also necessitate costly manual intervention and system restarts, impacting operational continuity. Given the unauthenticated remote exploit vector, attackers could leverage this vulnerability to target multiple facilities simultaneously, amplifying the impact. The disruption could affect compliance with regulatory requirements for industrial safety and availability, potentially leading to legal and financial consequences. Furthermore, the vulnerability could be exploited as part of a broader attack campaign targeting European industrial sectors, which are often high-value targets due to their economic importance.

1. Monitor B&R Industrial Automation GmbH advisories closely and apply official patches or updates as soon as they become available to address CVE-2025-11044. 2. Implement strict network segmentation to isolate the ANSL-Server component and restrict access only to trusted management and operational systems. 3. Deploy network-level access controls such as firewalls and intrusion prevention systems (IPS) to detect and block anomalous traffic patterns indicative of resource exhaustion or race condition exploitation attempts. 4. Use rate limiting and connection throttling on network devices to reduce the risk of resource exhaustion attacks targeting the vulnerable component. 5. Conduct regular security audits and vulnerability assessments of industrial control systems to identify and remediate exposure to this and similar vulnerabilities. 6. Establish incident response procedures specific to industrial environments to quickly recover from denial-of-service conditions, including system restarts and failover mechanisms. 7. Train operational technology (OT) personnel on recognizing signs of exploitation and maintaining secure configurations for automation runtime environments. 8. Consider deploying anomaly detection solutions tailored for ICS networks to identify early indicators of exploitation attempts.