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Resource Allocation Without LimitsWeakness · CWE-770

CVE-2025-48738

MEDIUM · 6.9 CVSS v4.0 Published 2025-05-23
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
78/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
An e-mail flooding vulnerability in StrangeBee TheHive 5.2.0 before 5.2.16, 5.3.0 before 5.3.11, 5.4.0 before 5.4.10, and 5.5.0 before 5.5.1 allows unauthenticated remote attackers to use the password reset feature without limits. This can lead to several consequences, including mailbox storage exhaustion for targeted users, reputation damage to the SMTP server, potentially causing it to be blacklisted, and overload of the SMTP server's outbound mail queue.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

TheHive's password reset endpoint lacks rate limiting, allowing unauthenticated remote attackers to repeatedly request password reset emails for any user email address. This abuse of the reset functionality enables mass email generation leading to mailbox exhaustion, SMTP server reputation damage, and queue overload.

MitigationUpgrade TheHive to version 5.2.16, 5.3.11, 5.4.10, or 5.5.1 or later which contains the rate limiting fix. Alternatively, implement rate limiting at the reverse proxy or application firewall level as a temporary mitigation.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
Authentication
X
User interaction
None
Scope
X

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:L/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify if TheHive is running in your environment
    Check for TheHive processes or services: ps aux | grep -i thehive, systemctl list-units --type=service | grep -i thehive, or docker ps | grep thehive
    Affected if TheHive process or container is found running
  2. Determine installed TheHive version
    Check version via: thehive --version, look in /opt/thehive/version.sbt, check build info in /opt/thehive/build.info, or inspect the JAR file metadata
    Affected if Version cannot be determined or is below 5.2.16, 5.3.11, 5.4.10, or 5.5.1
  3. Verify password reset endpoint is accessible
    Confirm TheHive web interface is reachable and the password reset endpoint (/api/user/password/reset or similar) responds - check your reverse proxy configuration and firewall rules
    Affected if Password reset endpoint is exposed externally or internally without additional access controls
  4. Review logs for password reset abuse
    Examine TheHive application logs (typically in /opt/thehive/logs/ or via journalctl -u thehive) for repeated password reset requests from single IPs or rapid succession of reset emails
    Affected if Multiple password reset requests observed in logs without rate limiting in place

If TheHive is running with a version below 5.2.16/5.3.11/5.4.10/5.5.1 and the password reset endpoint is accessible, the environment is vulnerable to CVE-2025-48738.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade TheHive to version 5.2.16, 5.3.11, 5.4.10, or 5.5.1 or later which contains the rate limiting fix. Alternatively, implement rate limiting at the reverse proxy or application firewall level as a temporary mitigation.

Recommended fix High confidence

TheHive 5.5.1 (or 5.4.10 for 5.4.x, 5.3.11 for 5.3.x, 5.2.16 for 5.2.x)

  1. 1. Back up your TheHive database and configuration files before starting the upgrade.
  2. 2. Download the fixed TheHive version (5.5.1 or later for the 5.5.x branch, or the equivalent fixed version for your current branch).
  3. 3. Stop the TheHive service.
  4. 4. Install the new version using your deployment method (Docker, binary, or package manager).
  5. 5. Verify the configuration files are compatible with the new version.
  6. 6. Start the TheHive service.
  7. 7. Confirm the password reset endpoint now enforces rate limiting or other protections against abuse.

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,060
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-48738 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data