CVE-2025-62186 is a vulnerability identified in Ankitects Anki, a popular spaced repetition flashcard application, affecting versions prior to 25.02.5 on Windows platforms. The root cause is improper handling of URL schemes when playing audio from shared decks. Specifically, a crafted shared deck can embed malicious URL schemes that the application processes insecurely, leading to execution of arbitrary commands on the victim's system. This vulnerability is classified under CWE-829, which involves inclusion of functionality from an untrusted control sphere, meaning the application trusts and executes external input without sufficient validation or sanitization. The attack vector is local (AV:L), requiring the attacker to provide a malicious shared deck file to the user, but no privileges or user interaction are necessary beyond opening the deck and playing audio. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 6.7, indicating medium severity, with high impact on confidentiality and integrity but no impact on availability. No known exploits have been reported in the wild as of the publication date. The vulnerability could allow attackers to execute arbitrary commands, potentially leading to data theft, unauthorized access, or further system compromise. The lack of a patch link suggests that a fix might be forthcoming or pending release. Given Anki's widespread use in educational and research environments, this vulnerability poses a risk to users who import shared decks from untrusted sources, especially on Windows systems where this flaw exists.

For European organizations, especially educational institutions, research centers, and individual users relying on Anki for learning and knowledge management, this vulnerability could lead to unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information and compromise of system integrity. Attackers could leverage crafted shared decks to execute malicious commands, potentially stealing data or installing malware. Although the attack requires local delivery of a malicious deck, the ease of sharing decks online increases the risk of inadvertent exposure. The impact is particularly significant in environments where Anki is used to manage sensitive or proprietary information. Additionally, compromised endpoints could serve as footholds for lateral movement within organizational networks. The lack of availability impact means systems remain operational, but confidentiality and integrity breaches could have long-term consequences for data security and trust in educational tools.

European organizations should implement several targeted mitigations: 1) Educate users to only import shared decks from trusted sources and verify the origin of decks before use. 2) Temporarily restrict or monitor the use of Anki on Windows systems until patches are released. 3) Employ endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools to monitor for unusual command execution patterns linked to Anki processes. 4) Use application whitelisting to prevent unauthorized execution of commands spawned by Anki. 5) Network segmentation to limit potential lateral movement if a system is compromised. 6) Regularly check for and apply official patches from Ankitects as soon as they become available. 7) Consider sandboxing or running Anki in a controlled environment to limit the impact of potential exploits. 8) Implement strict user privilege management to reduce the impact of local exploits. These steps go beyond generic advice by focusing on controlling the attack vector (shared decks) and monitoring command execution behavior specific to this vulnerability.