CVE-2025-5917 is a vulnerability identified in the libarchive library, a widely used tool for reading and writing archive files such as tar, cpio, and zip. The flaw is an off-by-one error in the handling of filename prefixes and suffixes, resulting in a one-byte out-of-bounds write. This overflow can corrupt adjacent memory, which may lead to unpredictable program behavior including crashes or memory corruption. While the immediate impact on confidentiality and integrity is minimal, such memory corruption can be leveraged as a primitive in more complex exploit chains. The vulnerability affects libarchive versions prior to 3.8.0 and is present in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 among other distributions. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 2.8, reflecting low severity due to the requirement for local privileges, user interaction, and limited impact on confidentiality and integrity. No known exploits have been reported in the wild. The vulnerability’s exploitation vector is local, requiring an attacker to have some level of access and to trigger archive processing with crafted filenames. This vulnerability underscores the importance of careful boundary checking in low-level libraries that handle untrusted input. Patch availability is implied but no direct patch links are provided; updating to libarchive 3.8.0 or later is recommended.

For European organizations, the primary impact is on system stability and reliability, as the vulnerability can cause application crashes or unpredictable behavior when processing maliciously crafted archive files. Although the direct risk to confidentiality and integrity is low, the memory corruption could be used as a stepping stone in multi-stage attacks, especially in environments where local user privileges can be escalated. Organizations using Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 or other Linux distributions with vulnerable libarchive versions in critical infrastructure, development, or production environments may face service disruptions. The vulnerability could affect automated systems that process archives, such as CI/CD pipelines, backup solutions, or software deployment tools, potentially leading to downtime or data loss. Given the low CVSS score and lack of known exploits, the immediate risk is limited, but the presence of the vulnerability in foundational libraries warrants timely remediation to maintain operational security.

1. Upgrade libarchive to version 3.8.0 or later, where the vulnerability is fixed. 2. For Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 users, apply all relevant security updates from Red Hat promptly. 3. Audit and restrict local user permissions to minimize the risk of exploitation by unprivileged users. 4. Implement monitoring to detect abnormal crashes or memory corruption events related to archive processing applications. 5. Review and harden applications and scripts that automatically process archive files, ensuring they validate input and handle errors gracefully. 6. Use sandboxing or containerization for processes that handle untrusted archive files to limit potential damage from crashes or exploits. 7. Educate users about the risks of opening untrusted archive files, especially in environments where local user privileges exist. 8. Maintain an inventory of software dependencies to identify all systems using vulnerable libarchive versions and prioritize patching accordingly.