CVE-2025-48041 is a high-severity vulnerability affecting the Erlang Open Telecom Platform (OTP), specifically within the ssh_sftp modules of the OTP ssh implementation. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-770 (Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling) and CWE-400 (Uncontrolled Resource Consumption). It allows an attacker to cause excessive resource allocation or flooding by exploiting the lack of proper limits or throttling mechanisms in the ssh_sftp server implementation (lib/ssh/src/ssh_sftpd.erl). This can lead to denial of service (DoS) conditions by exhausting system resources such as memory or CPU, potentially impacting the availability of services relying on Erlang OTP's SSH components. The affected versions span a wide range of OTP releases, from OTP 17.0 through OTP 28.0.3, including specific patch versions 27.3.4.3 and 26.2.5.15, and ssh package versions from 3.0.1 up to 5.3.3 and related sub-versions. The vulnerability requires no user interaction and no authentication, making it remotely exploitable over the network. The CVSS 4.0 base score is 7.1, indicating a high severity with network attack vector, low attack complexity, no privileges required, and no user interaction needed. The impact is primarily on availability, with a high impact rating, while confidentiality and integrity remain unaffected. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no patches are linked yet, suggesting that mitigation may require vendor updates or workarounds once available.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-48041 can be significant, especially for those relying on Erlang OTP for critical infrastructure, telecommunications, financial services, or industrial control systems. Erlang OTP is widely used in telecom systems, messaging platforms, and distributed applications, which are integral to many European enterprises and service providers. An attacker exploiting this vulnerability could cause service outages or degraded performance by overwhelming SSH SFTP services, leading to denial of service. This can disrupt business operations, affect customer-facing services, and potentially cause cascading failures in dependent systems. Given the remote exploitability and lack of authentication requirement, attackers could launch attacks from anywhere, increasing the threat surface. The absence of known exploits currently provides a window for proactive mitigation. However, once weaponized, the vulnerability could be leveraged in targeted attacks or large-scale denial of service campaigns against European organizations, particularly those in sectors with high Erlang OTP adoption.

1. Immediate mitigation should include monitoring and restricting SSH SFTP access to trusted IP ranges and networks to reduce exposure. 2. Implement rate limiting and connection throttling at network perimeter devices or SSH gateways to prevent excessive resource consumption from individual clients. 3. Employ resource usage monitoring and alerting on systems running Erlang OTP ssh services to detect abnormal spikes indicative of exploitation attempts. 4. Isolate critical Erlang OTP ssh services in segmented network zones with strict access controls. 5. Stay updated with Erlang OTP vendor advisories and apply patches promptly once available. 6. Consider deploying Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) or Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS) with custom rules to detect and block anomalous SSH SFTP traffic patterns related to flooding. 7. Review and harden SSH configuration to disable unnecessary features or modules if feasible. 8. Conduct penetration testing and vulnerability assessments focusing on Erlang OTP ssh components to validate defenses.