Traffic ControlApplication · Apache
CVE-2025-61581
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** UNSUPPORTED WHEN ASSIGNED ** Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity vulnerability in Apache Traffic Control. This issue affects Apache Traffic Control: all versions. People with access to the management interface of the Traffic Router component could specify malicious patterns and cause unavailability. As this project is retired, we do not plan to release a version that fixes this issue. Users are recommended to find an alternative or restrict access to the instance to trusted users. NOTE: This vulnerability only affects products that are no longer supported by the maintainer.
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 confidenceThis is a Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS) vulnerability in Apache Traffic Control's Traffic Router component. Attackers with access to the management interface can submit malicious regex patterns that trigger catastrophic backtracking, causing the service to become unavailable. The CVSS 7.5 score reflects high availability impact.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data
Traffic ControlApplication
<= 8.0.2CVSS 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
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify if Apache Traffic Control is installedCheck for Apache Traffic Control installation by searching for traffic router binaries, configuration directories, or running services (e.g., ps aux | grep traffic, find /opt -name '*traffic*', or check system service manager)Affected if Apache Traffic Control is present on the system
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Determine the installed Traffic Control versionRun the traffic router version command (e.g., traffic_router --version) or check the RPM/DEB package version if installed via package managerAffected if Version is 8.0.2 or lower, or cannot determine version (treat as affected)
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Verify Traffic Router component is runningCheck for running Traffic Router process (e.g., ps aux | grep traffic_router, systemctl status traffic_router) or check if the management port (default 8080 or configured port) is listeningAffected if Traffic Router process is active and listening on a management port
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Confirm management interface accessibilityAttempt to reach the Traffic Router management API endpoint (typically http://localhost:8080/api or similar health/status endpoint) or check firewall/network ACLs allowing access to port 8080Affected if Management interface is reachable from network locations beyond localhost or without authentication controls
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Check access control configuration on management interfaceReview Traffic Router configuration files for auth settings, or verify that network segmentation/firewall rules restrict management interface to trusted IPs onlyAffected if No authentication required for management interface OR interface exposed to untrusted networks
The environment is affected if Apache Traffic Control version 8.0.2 or lower is installed with the Traffic Router management interface accessible to untrusted users or networks.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scopedSince Apache Traffic Control is retired with no planned fix, organizations should restrict access to the Traffic Router management interface to trusted users only, or migrate to an alternative solution.
- 1. Identify all systems running Apache Traffic Control, specifically the Traffic Router component.
- 2. Review and restrict network access to the Traffic Router management interface to only trusted IP addresses or networks.
- 3. Implement strong authentication mechanisms for any remaining access to the management interface.
- 4. Consider migrating to an alternative solution as recommended by the Apache Traffic Control project, since this product is retired and no security updates will be provided.
- 5. Implement monitoring and alerting for any unusual patterns that could indicate exploitation attempts.
- 6. Document the risk acceptance and mitigation measures in the organization's security inventory.
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Traffic Control
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-61581 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-61581 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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
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