Pterodactyl panel is an open-source game server management platform that enforces rate limits on resources such as databases, port allocations, and backups on a per-server basis. In versions prior to 1.12.0, the validation of these resource limits occurs early in the request processing cycle without applying locks on the target resource. This design flaw allows a race condition where a malicious user can flood the server with a large number of simultaneous requests to create resources. Each request passes validation independently, as the resource count is not updated or locked during processing, resulting in the creation of more resources than the configured limits. This uncontrolled resource consumption can exhaust node allocations, fill backup storage prematurely, and deny legitimate users access to resources. The vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2025-69198 with a CVSS 4.0 score of 6.0 (medium severity), indicating network attack vector, low attack complexity, partial privileges required, no user interaction, and high impact on availability. No known exploits are currently in the wild. The issue is resolved in Pterodactyl panel version 1.12.0 by implementing proper locking or atomic validation to prevent concurrent resource creation beyond limits.

For European organizations using Pterodactyl panel versions prior to 1.12.0, this vulnerability can lead to significant disruption of game server management operations. Attackers can exhaust critical resources such as databases, port allocations, and backup storage, causing denial of service to legitimate users and potentially impacting service availability. This can degrade user experience, cause operational downtime, and increase administrative overhead to remediate resource exhaustion. Organizations hosting multiple game servers on shared nodes are particularly at risk, as one compromised or malicious user can affect others by consuming disproportionate resources. While the vulnerability does not directly compromise confidentiality or integrity, the availability impact can be severe, especially for service providers or gaming communities relying on Pterodactyl for server orchestration. The medium CVSS score reflects moderate risk but should not be underestimated in environments with high resource contention or limited capacity.

European organizations should immediately upgrade all Pterodactyl panel instances to version 1.12.0 or later, where the vulnerability is fixed. Until upgrades are completed, administrators should implement strict monitoring of resource usage and request rates to detect abnormal spikes indicative of exploitation attempts. Rate limiting at the network or application firewall level can help mitigate flooding of resource creation requests. Additionally, applying access controls to restrict resource creation privileges to trusted users reduces risk. Administrators should audit existing resource allocations to identify and clean up any excessive or orphaned resources created due to this vulnerability. Implementing alerting on resource exhaustion thresholds and backup storage utilization can provide early warning of abuse. Finally, consider isolating critical game server nodes to limit the blast radius of potential attacks exploiting this flaw.