VulnerabilityPublished 17 Jun 2025Updated 26 Jun 2025

CVE-2025-45526: asvd microlight · Unthrottled Resource Allocation

Affects asvd microlightSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 2.9 Low.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 10:12 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

2.9Low

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

EPSS: 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 3% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: High
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: Local: The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: High: A successful attack depends on conditions beyond the attacker's control. That is, a successful attack cannot be accomplished at will, but requires the attacker to invest in some measurable amount of effort in preparation or execution against the vulnerable component before a successful attack can be expected. For example, a successful attack may require an attacker to: gather knowledge about the environment in which the vulnerable target/component exists; prepare the target environment to improve exploit reliability; or inject themselves into the logical network path between the target and the resource requested by the victim in order to read and/or modify network communications (e.g., a man in the middle attack).
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 17 Jun 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 26 Oct 2026.

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 or the CVSS exploit maturity 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
npmmicrolight`pkg:npm/microlight`Other threats	Affected =0	Fixed in–

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

To mitigate this vulnerability, European organizations should take the following specific actions: 1) Identify and inventory all web applications and internal tools that use the microlight library, particularly version 0.0.7 or earlier. 2) Temporarily disable or remove the microlight library from critical web pages until a patched version is available. 3) Implement client-side input size restrictions or sanitization to prevent rendering of excessively large content within microlight elements. 4) Employ Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to restrict loading of untrusted scripts and reduce the risk of malicious content injection. 5) Educate users about the risks of visiting untrusted or suspicious web pages, emphasizing caution with links received via email or messaging platforms. 6) Monitor web traffic and logs for unusual spikes in resource usage or repeated crashes that may indicate exploitation attempts. 7) Engage with the microlight library maintainers or community to track patch releases and apply updates promptly once available. 8) Consider alternative syntax highlighting libraries with better input validation and resource management if microlight usage is widespread and cannot be immediately patched.

Description

A denial of service (DoS) vulnerability has been identified in the JavaScript library microlight version 0.0.7. This library, used for syntax highlighting, does not limit the size of textual content it processes in HTML elements with the microlight class. When excessively large content (e.g., 100 million characters) is processed, the reset function in microlight.js consumes excessive memory and CPU resources, causing browser crashes or unresponsiveness. An attacker can exploit this vulnerability by tricking a user into visiting a malicious web page containing a microlight element with large content, resulting in a denial of service. NOTE: this is disputed by multiple parties because a large amount of memory and CPU resources is expected to be needed for content of that size.

Impact

For European organizations, the primary impact of this vulnerability is on the availability of web applications or internal tools that utilize the microlight library for syntax highlighting. Organizations that embed microlight in their web portals, developer tools, or documentation platforms may experience browser crashes or unresponsiveness when users access pages with maliciously crafted content. This can disrupt business operations, reduce productivity, and degrade user experience. While the vulnerability does not directly compromise confidentiality or integrity, the denial of service could be leveraged as part of a broader attack chain to distract or disrupt users. Sectors with high reliance on web-based developer environments, such as software companies, financial institutions with internal coding tools, and public sector entities providing online documentation, are particularly at risk. Additionally, the vulnerability could be exploited in targeted phishing campaigns to disrupt key personnel's access to critical web resources. The impact is limited to client-side environments and requires user interaction, which somewhat reduces the attack surface but does not eliminate risk, especially in environments with less stringent web browsing policies.

CWE-770Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #25
The product allocates a reusable resource or group of resources on behalf of an actor without imposing any intended restrictions on the size or number of resources that can be allocated.
Requirements
Clearly specify the minimum and maximum expectations for capabilities, and dictate which behaviors are acceptable when resource allocation reaches limits.
Architecture and Design
Limit the amount of resources that are accessible to unprivileged users. Set per-user limits for resources. Allow the system administrator to define these limits. Be careful to avoid CWE-410.
Architecture and Design
Design throttling mechanisms into the system architecture. The best protection is to limit the amount of resources that an unauthorized user can cause to be expended.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Abuse Case (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V8.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
V13.4.1 (opens in a new tab)
V11.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
XML Ping of the Death (opens in a new tab)
Exponential Data Expansion (opens in a new tab)
Serialized Data Parameter Blowup (opens in a new tab)
Serialized Data with Nested Payloads (opens in a new tab)
Oversized Serialized Data Payloads (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 17 Jun 2025, 20:04 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-770

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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