VulnerabilityPublished 2 Dec 2025

CVE-2025-64460: djangoproject Django · Inefficient Algorithmic Complexity

Affects djangoproject DjangoSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.5 High.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 17:16 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.5High

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

EPSS: 2.0% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 81% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
Availability: High

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: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 2 Dec 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

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
PyPIdjango`pkg:pypi/django`Other threats	Affected =5.2 =5.1 =4.2	Fixed in–

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

Immediately upgrade Django to the fixed versions: 5.2.9 or later, 5.1.15 or later, and 4.2.27 or later.
If upgrading is not immediately feasible, implement network-level protections such as rate limiting and web application firewalls (WAFs) to detect and block suspicious XML payloads or excessive requests targeting XML deserialization endpoints.
Review application code to minimize or avoid accepting untrusted XML input for deserialization, or replace XML deserialization with safer data formats like JSON where possible.
Employ input validation and XML schema validation to reject malformed or overly complex XML documents before processing.
Monitor application performance and resource usage to detect abnormal spikes indicative of exploitation attempts.
Use runtime application self-protection (RASP) tools to detect and mitigate resource exhaustion attacks dynamically.
Conduct regular security assessments and code reviews focusing on deserialization components.
Stay informed on Django security advisories for any updates or additional patches related to this vulnerability.

Description

An issue was discovered in 5.2 before 5.2.9, 5.1 before 5.1.15, and 4.2 before 4.2.27. Algorithmic complexity in `django.core.serializers.xml_serializer.getInnerText()` allows a remote attacker to cause a potential denial-of-service attack triggering CPU and memory exhaustion via specially crafted XML input processed by the XML `Deserializer`. Earlier, unsupported Django series (such as 5.0.x, 4.1.x, and 3.2.x) were not evaluated and may also be affected. Django would like to thank Seokchan Yoon for reporting this issue.

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2025-64460 is denial-of-service through resource exhaustion (CPU and memory), which can cause affected Django-based applications to become unresponsive or crash. This disrupts service availability, potentially affecting business operations, user experience, and critical online services. Since the vulnerability can be exploited remotely without authentication or user interaction, attackers can launch DoS attacks at scale, potentially targeting high-value web applications, APIs, or backend services using Django's XML deserialization. Organizations relying on Django for web services that accept XML input are at risk of service outages, which could lead to financial losses, reputational damage, and operational downtime. The vulnerability does not compromise data confidentiality or integrity but can be leveraged as part of a broader attack chain to degrade service or distract security teams. Given Django's widespread use in various sectors including technology, finance, healthcare, and government, the impact can be significant globally.

CWE-407Inefficient Algorithmic Complexity (opens in a new tab)
Class weaknessLikelihood of exploit: Low
An algorithm in a product has an inefficient worst-case computational complexity that may be detrimental to system performance and can be triggered by an attacker, typically using crafted manipulations that ensure that the worst case is being reached.
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

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 27 Feb 2026, 15:51 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-407

Technical details

References

Community reviews

Related threats