CVE-2025-5917 is a vulnerability identified in the libarchive library, a widely used tool for reading and writing various archive formats. The flaw stems from an off-by-one miscalculation during the handling of prefixes and suffixes in file names, which leads to a one-byte out-of-bounds write. Although the overflow is minimal, it can corrupt adjacent memory, potentially causing application crashes or undefined behavior. In some scenarios, such memory corruption could be leveraged by attackers as part of a more sophisticated exploit chain to escalate privileges or execute arbitrary code. The vulnerability affects libarchive versions prior to 3.8.0 and is present in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 and potentially other Linux distributions using vulnerable libarchive versions. The CVSS score is 2.8 (low severity), reflecting that exploitation requires local privileges, low attack complexity, user interaction, and results primarily in availability impact without compromising confidentiality or integrity. No public exploits have been reported, and no patches were linked in the provided data, but Red Hat and other vendors are expected to release updates. The vulnerability is classified as an out-of-bounds write, a common memory corruption issue that can be a precursor to more severe attacks if combined with other vulnerabilities.

For European organizations, the primary impact of CVE-2025-5917 is potential denial of service or application instability due to memory corruption caused by the 1-byte overflow. While the vulnerability does not directly compromise confidentiality or integrity, the resulting crashes or unpredictable behavior could disrupt critical services that rely on libarchive for archive processing. This is particularly relevant for organizations handling large volumes of archived data or automating archive extraction in workflows. Since exploitation requires local privileges and user interaction, the risk of remote exploitation is low, but insider threats or compromised user accounts could leverage this flaw. The vulnerability could also serve as a building block in multi-stage attacks, increasing risk in environments where other vulnerabilities exist. European sectors such as finance, government, and critical infrastructure that use Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 or other affected systems should be aware of potential service disruptions and the need for patch management.

Organizations should prioritize updating libarchive to version 3.8.0 or later once patches are available from their Linux distribution vendors, including Red Hat. Until patches are applied, restrict local user privileges to minimize the risk of exploitation, and monitor systems for unusual crashes or application behavior related to archive processing. Implement strict access controls and user activity monitoring to detect potential misuse by insiders or compromised accounts. Review and harden archive handling workflows to limit exposure to untrusted archive files. Additionally, consider deploying memory protection mechanisms such as Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) and stack canaries to reduce the impact of memory corruption vulnerabilities. Regularly audit installed software versions and maintain an up-to-date inventory of systems using libarchive to ensure timely patching. Engage with vendor security advisories for updates and exploit information.