VulnerabilityPublished 29 Aug 2025Updated 2 Sep 2025

CVE-2025-58066: pendulum-project ntpd-rs · Network Amplification

Affects pendulum-project ntpd-rsSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.3 Medium · fixed in 1.6.2 : update pendulum-project ntpd-rs when convenient.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 14:05 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.3Medium

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

EPSS: 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 26% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 1.6.2

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
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: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
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 29 Aug 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

AI-suggested

European organizations should prioritize upgrading all ntpd-rs server instances to version 1.6.2 or later to eliminate this vulnerability. Network administrators should audit their NTP server configurations to ensure that non-NTS traffic is either disabled or strictly controlled. Implementing rate limiting and monitoring for unusual NTP traffic patterns can help detect and mitigate message storms early. Deploying network-level protections such as ingress filtering and anomaly-based intrusion detection systems can reduce the risk of exploitation. Organizations should also consider segmenting NTP servers from general network traffic to limit exposure. Regular vulnerability scanning and patch management processes should include ntpd-rs and related time synchronization services. Finally, contingency plans should be updated to address potential NTP service disruptions, ensuring continuity of critical time-dependent operations.

Description

nptd-rs is a tool for synchronizing your computer's clock, implementing the NTP and NTS protocols. In versions between 1.2.0 and 1.6.1 inclusive servers which allow non-NTS traffic are affected by a denial of service vulnerability, where an attacker can induce a message storm between two NTP servers running ntpd-rs. Client-only configurations are not affected. Affected users are recommended to upgrade to version 1.6.2 as soon as possible.

Impact

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a risk primarily to infrastructure relying on ntpd-rs servers for time synchronization. Disruption of NTP services can lead to cascading effects on logging accuracy, authentication protocols (e.g., Kerberos), certificate validation, and time-sensitive transactions. Critical sectors such as finance, telecommunications, energy, and government services that depend on precise timekeeping could experience service degradation or outages. Although the vulnerability does not compromise confidentiality or integrity directly, the availability impact could disrupt operations and incident response capabilities. The attack's network-based nature means it could be launched from external sources, potentially amplifying distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks within internal networks if exploited at scale. However, since client-only configurations are unaffected and exploitation requires server configurations allowing non-NTS traffic, the impact is somewhat constrained to specific deployment scenarios.

CWE-406Insufficient Control of Network Message Volume (Network Amplification) (opens in a new tab)
Class weakness
The product does not sufficiently monitor or control transmitted network traffic volume, so that an actor can cause the product to transmit more traffic than should be allowed for that actor.
Architecture and Design · Separation of Privilege
An application must make network resources available to a client commensurate with the client's access level.
Policy
Define a clear policy for network resource allocation and consumption.
Implementation
An application must, at all times, keep track of network resources and meter their usage appropriately.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
File Upload (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V12.1.1 (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

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 7 Sep 2025, 00:44 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-406

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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