CVE-2025-49574 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting versions of the Quarkus framework prior to 3.24.0. Quarkus is a cloud-native, container-first Java framework widely used for building microservices and serverless applications, particularly in Linux container environments. The vulnerability stems from improper handling of duplicated contexts within Vert.x, a reactive toolkit Quarkus leverages for asynchronous programming and context propagation. Specifically, when a duplicated context is duplicated again—a rare but supported operation—sensitive data such as request-scoped information, security credentials, and metadata can leak between transactions. This results in exposure of data to an unintended scope or "wrong sphere," classified under CWE-668. The vulnerability does not require user interaction but does require low privileges and remote access (AV:A, PR:L, UI:N). The CVSS 3.1 score is 6.4, reflecting high impact on confidentiality and integrity but no impact on availability. The issue has been addressed in Quarkus version 3.24.0. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild. The vulnerability could lead to unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information between concurrent transactions, potentially compromising user data, session integrity, or security context isolation in multi-tenant or multi-user environments. Given Quarkus's growing adoption in cloud-native Java applications, this vulnerability poses a risk to organizations relying on affected versions for critical services.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-49574 can be significant, especially for those deploying microservices or serverless applications using Quarkus in containerized environments. The data leakage between duplicated contexts could expose sensitive customer data, internal metadata, or security tokens, leading to confidentiality breaches and potential compliance violations under GDPR. Integrity of transaction data may also be compromised, undermining trust in application correctness and security. This is particularly critical for sectors such as finance, healthcare, and government services where data isolation and security are paramount. Although availability is not affected, the breach of confidentiality and integrity could result in reputational damage, regulatory fines, and increased incident response costs. The vulnerability's requirement for low privileges and remote access means attackers with limited access could exploit it, increasing the risk profile. Organizations using older Quarkus versions in production without patching are at risk of data leakage between concurrent requests or transactions, which could be leveraged for further attacks or unauthorized data access.

1. Upgrade all Quarkus deployments to version 3.24.0 or later immediately to apply the official patch addressing this vulnerability. 2. Audit existing applications for usage patterns involving duplicated contexts, especially nested duplications, and refactor code to minimize or eliminate such patterns where possible. 3. Implement strict access controls and network segmentation to limit exposure of vulnerable services to trusted networks and authenticated users only. 4. Enhance monitoring and logging around context duplication operations to detect anomalous behavior or potential exploitation attempts. 5. Conduct security reviews of Vert.x context propagation usage within applications to ensure no inadvertent data sharing occurs. 6. For multi-tenant environments, enforce strict tenant isolation at the application and container orchestration layers to reduce risk of cross-tenant data leakage. 7. Incorporate this vulnerability into incident response plans and conduct tabletop exercises simulating data leakage scenarios to improve preparedness. 8. Engage with vendors or third-party providers using Quarkus to confirm patch status and remediation timelines.