FERRAMENTAS LINUX: Critical Security Update for Erlang/OTP on openSUSE

Urgent openSUSE security patch: Mitigate CVE-2025-48041, a Moderate-rated Erlang/OTP SSH flaw that allows file handle exhaustion & DoS. Get step-by-step patch commands for Leap 15.3, 15.6, Server Modules. Secure your systems now.

Mitigate a Resource Exhaustion Vulnerability

A newly identified vulnerability, CVE-2025-48041, rated with a CVSS v3.1 score of 4.3 (Moderate), threatens the stability of systems running Erlang/OTP on openSUSE Leap.

This security flaw is an "Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling" issue within the Erlang SSH (Secure Shell) component, specifically targeting the SFTP subsystem . If exploited, a remote attacker could cause a denial-of-service (DoS) by exhausting available file handles, potentially crashing the service or the entire system.

This advisory provides a comprehensive guide to understanding and patching this critical vulnerability.

Vulnerability Deep Dive: Understanding CVE-2025-48041

To effectively defend your systems, it's crucial to understand the mechanics of this threat. The vulnerability resides in the lib/ssh/src/ssh_sftpd.erl source file of Erlang/OTP. It allows an authenticated attacker to trigger an excessive allocation of resources by exploiting the SSH_FXP_OPENDIR request, leading to a flood that consumes all available file handles.

This is not an isolated incident. The Erlang/OTP SSH component has recently been subject to increased scrutiny, with other high-severity vulnerabilities like CVE-2025-32433, a critical remote code execution flaw, also being patched.

This pattern underscores the necessity of maintaining proactive patch management for development tools and runtime environments, which are often overlooked attack vectors.

Affected Versions:

This issue affects a wide range of OTP versions, from through specific patched versions. The impacted SSH components range from 3.0.1 up to 5.3.3, 5.2.11.3, and 5.1.4.12. For openSUSE users, this directly impacts the erlang26 package across multiple distributions.

Step-by-Step Patch Guide for openSUSE

The most effective mitigation is to apply the official security update immediately. The following table provides the direct commands for your specific openSUSE distribution.

Distribution / Module	Patch Command
openSUSE Leap 15.3	`zypper in -t patch SUSE-2025-4035=1`
openSUSE Leap 15.6	`zypper in -t patch openSUSE-SLE-15.6-2025-4035=1`
Server Applications Module 15-SP6	`zypper in -t patch SUSE-SLE-Module-Server-Applications-15-SP6-2025-4035=1`
Server Applications Module 15-SP7	`zypper in -t patch SUSE-SLE-Module-Server-Applications-15-SP7-2025-4035=1`

Verification and Best Practices: After applying the update, administrators should verify the patch was successful by checking the installed version of the erlang26 package.

It is also a recommended best practice to monitor system logs for any unusual SSH or SFTP connection attempts and to ensure that the number of max_sessions for the SSH daemon is set to a reasonable limit to complicate potential exploitation attempts.

FAQ: Rapid-Fire Questions on CVE-2025-48041

Q1: What is the direct impact of this vulnerability on my servers?

A1: Exploitation leads to file handle exhaustion, causing service instability or a full denial-of-service, which can halt critical operations.

Q2: Is this vulnerability remotely exploitable?

A2: Yes, the vulnerability is accessible over the network. However, it does require an attacker to have low-privileged credentials (PR:L), making a key defensive measure.

Q3: Are there any immediate workarounds if I cannot patch immediately?

A3: As a temporary measure, you can consider if it is not essential for your operations. Alternatively, as suggested in the vulnerability report, limiting the max_sessions for your SSH daemon can make exploitation more difficult.

Conclusion and Strategic Call to Action

In today's threat landscape, securing the software supply chain is paramount, and runtime environments like Erlang/OTP are critical links in that chain.

The discovery of CVE-2025-48041 serves as a timely reminder that consistent vulnerability management is a non-negotiable aspect of system administration.

Protect your systems, ensure business continuity, and maintain stakeholder trust by executing the patch commands outlined in this advisory today.

For systems administrators and DevOps professionals, integrating these updates into your CI/CD pipeline security checks can help prevent such vulnerabilities from reaching production environments in the future.