Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2025-46728

high Nessus Plugin ID 251567

Synopsis

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed with a vulnerability that the vendor indicates will not be patched.

Description

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed that are impacted by a vulnerability without a vendor supplied patch available.

- cpp-httplib is a C++ header-only HTTP/HTTPS server and client library. Prior to version 0.20.1, the library fails to enforce configured size limits on incoming request bodies when `Transfer-Encoding:
chunked` is used or when no `Content-Length` header is provided. A remote attacker can send a chunked request without the terminating zero-length chunk, causing uncontrolled memory allocation on the server.
This leads to potential exhaustion of system memory and results in a server crash or unresponsiveness.
Version 0.20.1 fixes the issue by enforcing limits during parsing. If the limit is exceeded at any point during reading, the connection is terminated immediately. A short-term workaround through a Reverse Proxy is available. If updating the library immediately is not feasible, deploy a reverse proxy (e.g., Nginx, HAProxy) in front of the `cpp-httplib` application. Configure the proxy to enforce maximum request body size limits, thereby stopping excessively large requests before they reach the vulnerable library code.
(CVE-2025-46728)

Note that Nessus relies on the presence of the package as reported by the vendor.

Solution

There is no known solution at this time.

See Also

https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2025-46728

https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-46728

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 251567

File Name: unpatched_CVE_2025_46728.nasl

Version: 1.2

Type: local

Agent: unix

Family: Misc.

Published: 8/18/2025

Updated: 8/31/2025

Supported Sensors: Agentless Assessment, Frictionless Assessment Agent, Frictionless Assessment AWS, Frictionless Assessment Azure, Nessus Agent, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 4.4

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 5

Temporal Score: 3.9

Vector: CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2025-46728

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.5

Temporal Score: 6.7

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:P/RL:O/RC:C

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:25.04, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:24.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:22.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:14.0, p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:cpp-httplib, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:cpp-httplib, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:12.0, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:13.0

Required KB Items: Host/cpu, Host/local_checks_enabled, global_settings/vendor_unpatched, Host/OS/identifier

Exploit Available: true

Exploit Ease: Exploits are available

Vulnerability Publication Date: 5/6/2025

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2025-46728