CVE-2025-49180 is a high-severity vulnerability identified in the RandR (Resize and Rotate) extension of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 10. The flaw exists in the RRChangeProviderProperty function, which is responsible for changing properties of display providers. The vulnerability arises because the function does not properly validate input parameters, leading to an integer overflow or wraparound when calculating the total size of memory to allocate. This integer overflow can cause the allocation of insufficient memory buffers, potentially resulting in buffer overflows or memory corruption. Such memory corruption can be exploited by an attacker with limited privileges (local access with low privileges) to execute arbitrary code, escalate privileges, or cause denial of service by crashing the system. The CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8 reflects the high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability, with an attack vector limited to local access but requiring low complexity and no user interaction. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no specific patches or mitigations have been linked yet. However, given the critical nature of the flaw in a core system component, timely patching and mitigation are essential to prevent exploitation.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a significant risk, especially for enterprises and government agencies relying on RHEL 10 for critical infrastructure, servers, and workstations. Exploitation could lead to unauthorized privilege escalation, allowing attackers to gain root-level access, compromise sensitive data, disrupt services, or deploy further malware. The impact is particularly severe for sectors such as finance, healthcare, energy, and public administration, where system integrity and availability are paramount. Since the attack requires local access, the threat is heightened in environments where multiple users share systems or where attackers can gain initial footholds through other means (e.g., phishing or insider threats). The absence of known exploits in the wild provides a window for proactive defense, but the high severity score indicates that once exploited, the consequences could be severe, including data breaches and operational disruptions.

European organizations should prioritize the following specific mitigations: 1) Monitor Red Hat security advisories closely and apply official patches or updates for RHEL 10 as soon as they become available to address CVE-2025-49180. 2) Restrict local access to systems running RHEL 10 by enforcing strict access controls, limiting user privileges, and employing multi-factor authentication for local logins. 3) Implement application whitelisting and endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions to detect anomalous behavior indicative of exploitation attempts. 4) Conduct regular security audits and vulnerability scans focusing on RHEL 10 deployments to identify unpatched systems. 5) Harden the RandR extension usage by disabling or restricting its functionality on systems where display configuration changes are not required, reducing the attack surface. 6) Educate system administrators and users about the risks of local privilege escalation vulnerabilities and enforce policies to prevent unauthorized software installation or execution. 7) Employ system integrity monitoring tools to detect unexpected changes in critical system files or memory.