CVE-2025-44003VulnerabilityPublished 10 Jul 2025

CVE-2025-44003: Gallagher T-Series Readers · Missing Release of Resource after Effective Lifetime

Affects Gallagher T-Series ReadersSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 4.3 Medium.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

4.3Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 10% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

Attack Vector: Adjacent
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
Availability: Low

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Adjacent: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack, but the attack is limited at the protocol level to a logically adjacent topology. This can mean an attack must be launched from the same shared physical (e.g., Bluetooth or IEEE 802.11) or logical (e.g., local IP subnet) network, or from within a secure or otherwise limited administrative domain (e.g., MPLS, secure VPN to an administrative network zone).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: Low: Performance is reduced or there are interruptions in resource availability. Even if repeated exploitation of the vulnerability is possible, the attacker does not have the ability to completely deny service to legitimate users. The resources in the impacted component are either partially available all of the time, or fully available only some of the time, but overall there is no direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 10 Jul 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-25.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Gallagher T-Series Readers	Affected =0 =9.20 =9.10 =9.00	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

To mitigate this vulnerability, European organizations should: 1) Immediately assess the versions of Gallagher T-Series Readers deployed and identify those running affected firmware versions. 2) Implement strict physical security controls around reader hardware to prevent unauthorized physical access, including surveillance, tamper detection, and secure mounting. 3) Disable or phase out the use of 125 kHz card technology where possible, migrating to more secure authentication methods such as higher frequency RFID or smart cards. 4) Monitor reader behavior for signs of resource exhaustion or denial of service conditions and establish incident response procedures for physical access control failures. 5) Engage with Gallagher for firmware updates or patches addressing this vulnerability and plan timely deployment once available. 6) Conduct regular security audits and penetration tests focusing on physical access points to identify and remediate potential exploitation vectors. 7) Train security personnel to recognize and respond to physical tampering attempts targeting access control readers.

Description

Missing Release of Resource after Effective Lifetime (CWE-772) in the Gallagher T-Series Reader allows an attacker with physical access to the reader to perform a limited denial of service when 125 kHz Card Technology is enabled. This issue affects T-Series Readers: 9.20 prior to vCR9.20.250213a (distributed in 9.20.1827 (MR2)), 9.10 prior to vCR9.10.250213a (distributed in 9.10.2692(MR5)), 9.00 prior to vCR9.00.250619a (distributed in vEL9.00.3371 (MR7)), all versions of 8.90 and prior.

Impact

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-44003 primarily concerns physical security and operational continuity. Gallagher T-Series Readers are commonly deployed in physical access control systems across various sectors including corporate offices, government buildings, healthcare facilities, and critical infrastructure sites. A successful exploitation could cause temporary denial of service of the reader, preventing legitimate access and potentially causing workflow disruptions or security lapses. While the vulnerability does not compromise confidentiality or integrity, the availability impact could delay entry or exit, affecting security personnel response times and operational efficiency. Facilities with high reliance on 125 kHz card technology are more vulnerable, especially where physical access to readers is less controlled. In environments with strict regulatory compliance requirements (e.g., GDPR, NIS Directive), any disruption to security controls could have compliance implications. However, since exploitation requires physical access, the threat is somewhat mitigated by existing physical security measures.

CWE-772Missing Release of Resource after Effective Lifetime (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: High
The product does not release a resource after its effective lifetime has ended, i.e., after the resource is no longer needed.
Requirements · Language Selection
Use a language that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
Implementation
It is good practice to be responsible for freeing all resources you allocate and to be consistent with how and where you free resources in a function. If you allocate resources that you intend to free upon completion of the function, you must be sure to free the resources at all exit points for that function including…
Operation · Architecture and Design · Resource Limitation
Use resource-limiting settings provided by the operating system or environment. For example, when managing system resources in POSIX, setrlimit() can be used to set limits for certain types of resources, and getrlimit() can determine how many resources are available.
Attack patterns
HTTP DoS (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

security.gallagher.com/en-NZ/Security-Advisories/CVE-2025-44003 (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 10 Jul 2025, 03:32 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-772

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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