CVE-2025-1493 is a medium-severity vulnerability identified in IBM Db2 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows, specifically versions 12.1.0 through 12.1.1. The vulnerability arises from a race condition (CWE-362) involving improper synchronization during concurrent execution of shared resources. An authenticated user can exploit this flaw to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition. The race condition occurs when multiple threads or processes access and manipulate shared data or resources without adequate locking or synchronization mechanisms, leading to inconsistent states or resource conflicts. In this case, the improper handling within the Db2 database engine or its components can cause service disruption, potentially crashing the database or rendering it unresponsive. The vulnerability requires low privileges (authenticated user) but no user interaction beyond authentication is necessary. The attack vector is network-based (AV:N), but the attack complexity is high (AC:H), indicating that exploitation requires specific conditions or timing to trigger the race condition. The vulnerability does not impact confidentiality or integrity but affects availability, with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.3. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no patches have been linked yet, suggesting that remediation may be pending or in development. This vulnerability is significant because IBM Db2 is widely used in enterprise environments for critical data management, and a DoS condition could disrupt business operations relying on database availability.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-1493 could be substantial, especially for enterprises and public sector entities relying on IBM Db2 for critical applications such as finance, healthcare, telecommunications, and government services. A denial of service in the database layer can halt transaction processing, delay data access, and interrupt business continuity. This could lead to operational downtime, financial losses, and reputational damage. Since the vulnerability requires authenticated access, insider threats or compromised credentials could be leveraged to exploit this flaw. Additionally, organizations with multi-tenant environments or shared database services may experience cascading effects if one compromised user triggers the DoS. The medium severity rating reflects that while the vulnerability does not allow data theft or corruption, the availability impact on mission-critical systems can be disruptive. European GDPR regulations emphasize availability as part of data protection, so prolonged outages could also have compliance implications.

To mitigate CVE-2025-1493, European organizations should take the following specific actions: 1) Immediately audit and restrict authenticated user privileges to the minimum necessary, reducing the risk of exploitation by limiting access to trusted users only. 2) Monitor database logs and system performance metrics for unusual spikes in concurrent resource usage or errors indicative of race conditions. 3) Implement network segmentation and access controls to isolate database servers and reduce exposure to potentially malicious authenticated users. 4) Engage with IBM support channels to obtain patches or workarounds as soon as they become available; prioritize patching affected Db2 versions (12.1.0 and 12.1.1). 5) Conduct internal testing in controlled environments to simulate concurrent access patterns and identify potential triggers for the race condition, enabling proactive detection. 6) Employ application-level throttling or connection pooling limits to prevent excessive concurrent requests that might exacerbate the vulnerability. 7) Strengthen authentication mechanisms, including multi-factor authentication, to reduce the risk of credential compromise. 8) Prepare incident response plans specifically addressing database availability issues to minimize downtime if exploitation occurs.