CVE-2025-7074 is a vulnerability identified in the vercel hyper terminal emulator, specifically affecting versions 3.4.0 and 3.4.1. The issue lies within the functions expand, braceExpand, and ignoreMap in the file hyper/bin/rimraf-standalone.js. The vulnerability is characterized by inefficient regular expression complexity, which can be exploited remotely without requiring user interaction or elevated privileges. This inefficiency can lead to excessive CPU consumption or denial of service conditions when the vulnerable functions process specially crafted input designed to trigger worst-case regular expression evaluation paths. The vulnerability has been publicly disclosed, although there are no known exploits actively used in the wild at this time. The CVSS v4.0 base score is 5.3, indicating a medium severity level. The attack vector is network-based with low attack complexity and no authentication required, making it feasible for remote attackers to initiate the attack. The impact primarily affects availability due to potential resource exhaustion but does not compromise confidentiality or integrity. The vulnerability does not involve scope changes or user interaction, and the affected component is a widely used terminal emulator in developer and operational environments.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-7074 could be significant in environments where vercel hyper is used extensively, such as software development firms, cloud service providers, and enterprises relying on modern terminal emulators for operational tasks. The inefficient regular expression complexity can lead to denial of service conditions, causing service interruptions or degraded performance in critical development or deployment pipelines. This could delay software delivery, impact operational efficiency, and potentially disrupt business continuity. While the vulnerability does not directly expose sensitive data or allow unauthorized code execution, the availability impact can indirectly affect confidentiality and integrity if system stability is compromised. Organizations with automated systems or CI/CD pipelines that integrate hyper could face cascading failures. Additionally, remote exploitation without authentication increases the risk surface, especially for publicly accessible systems or developer workstations connected to external networks.

To mitigate this vulnerability, European organizations should prioritize upgrading vercel hyper to a version beyond 3.4.1 once a patch is released by the vendor. Until then, organizations can implement input validation and filtering to detect and block suspicious patterns that may trigger the inefficient regular expression processing. Network-level protections such as Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) or Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS) can be configured to monitor and block anomalous traffic targeting the vulnerable functions. Limiting network exposure of systems running vercel hyper by restricting access to trusted networks and using VPNs can reduce the attack surface. Monitoring system resource usage and setting thresholds for CPU consumption can help detect potential exploitation attempts early. Additionally, organizations should review and harden their operational security policies around developer tools and terminal emulators, including restricting usage to vetted personnel and environments. Regular security awareness training for developers and system administrators about this vulnerability and its exploitation vectors is also recommended.