CVE-2025-52461 is an out-of-bounds read vulnerability classified under CWE-125 found in the Nex parsing functionality of The Biosig Project's libbiosig library, specifically in versions 3.9.0 and the Master Branch (35a819fa). Libbiosig is an open-source library used for biosignal processing, including EEG, ECG, and other biomedical signal formats. The vulnerability arises when the library processes specially crafted .nex files, which are used for storing neural data. Due to improper bounds checking during parsing, an attacker can cause the library to read memory beyond the allocated buffer, leading to an information leak. This can expose sensitive data from the process memory, potentially including cryptographic keys, user data, or other confidential information. The vulnerability can be triggered remotely without requiring authentication or user interaction, as it only requires the attacker to supply a malicious .nex file to a system or application that uses libbiosig for parsing. The CVSS v3.1 score of 8.2 reflects a high severity, with the vector indicating network attack vector (AV:N), low attack complexity (AC:L), no privileges required (PR:N), no user interaction (UI:N), unchanged scope (S:U), low confidentiality impact (C:L), no integrity impact (I:N), and high availability impact (A:H). The high availability impact suggests that the out-of-bounds read may cause crashes or denial of service conditions. Currently, no public patches or exploits are known, but the vulnerability is publicly disclosed and should be addressed promptly. The Biosig Project is widely used in academic and clinical research environments, making this vulnerability particularly relevant to biomedical research institutions and healthcare organizations that process neural or biosignal data.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-52461 can be significant, especially for those involved in biomedical research, healthcare, and neuroinformatics that rely on libbiosig for processing biosignal data. The information leak could expose sensitive patient data or proprietary research information, violating data protection regulations such as GDPR. The high availability impact means that exploitation could lead to denial of service, disrupting critical research workflows or clinical diagnostics. This could result in operational downtime, loss of data integrity in research outputs, and potential reputational damage. Furthermore, the vulnerability's ease of exploitation without authentication or user interaction increases the risk of remote attacks, including supply chain attacks where malicious .nex files are introduced into data pipelines. European healthcare providers and research institutions must consider this vulnerability a priority due to the sensitivity of the data handled and the regulatory environment emphasizing data confidentiality and availability.

To mitigate CVE-2025-52461, European organizations should implement the following specific measures: 1) Immediately audit and inventory all systems and applications using libbiosig versions 3.9.0 or the Master Branch (35a819fa) to identify exposure. 2) Apply patches or updates from The Biosig Project as soon as they become available; if no official patch exists, consider temporarily disabling Nex file parsing or isolating the parsing functionality in sandboxed environments. 3) Implement strict input validation and sanitization for all .nex files before processing, including file integrity checks and format validation to detect malformed files. 4) Restrict the sources of .nex files to trusted and verified origins to prevent malicious file injection. 5) Monitor application logs and system behavior for signs of crashes or anomalous memory access patterns indicative of exploitation attempts. 6) Employ runtime protections such as Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) and Data Execution Prevention (DEP) to reduce exploitation success. 7) Educate staff and researchers about the risks of processing untrusted biosignal files and enforce secure data handling policies. 8) Consider network-level controls to limit exposure of systems that process .nex files to untrusted networks.