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QNAP QTS CVE-2025-52859

| EUVDEUVD-2025-32436 MEDIUM
NULL Pointer Dereference (CWE-476)
2025-10-03 security@qnapsecurity.com.tw
5.1
CVSS 4.0 · Vendor: qnapsecurity
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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Obtain QNAP admin credentials
  2. Exploit
    Authenticate to device over network
  3. Execution
    Send crafted request triggering NULL deref
  4. Impact
    Crash service causing denial-of-service

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A10:2025 - Mishandling of Exceptional Conditions
ASVS 5.0
V16 - Security Logging and Error Handling Null pointer safety, defensive checks
MITRE ATT&CK

1 technique across 1 tactic: Impact

The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up.

Exploitation Conditions

Exploitation requires the attacker to already possess a QNAP administrator account on the target device (PR:H), so this is strictly a post-authentication, privileged-abuse condition rather than a remote unauthenticated flaw. Affected products are QTS 5.2.x and QuTS hero h5.2.x prior to the 5.2.6.3195 / h5.2.6.3195 build 20250715 fixes; no special non-default feature or configuration is named in the advisory. The dominant limiting factor is the administrator-account prerequisite, which confines realistic risk to insider misuse or scenarios where admin credentials are already compromised; impact is limited to availability (device/service crash) with no confidentiality or integrity effect.

Impact

This is a genuinely low-priority issue despite a MEDIUM CVSS 4.0 score of 5.1. The signals are mutually consistent rather than conflicting: the CVSS vector (CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L) shows network reach and low complexity, but gating on PR:H (high privileges) means the attacker must already hold a QNAP administrator account - a precondition that drastically narrows the realistic threat. Impact is limited to availability only (VA:L, with VC:N/VI:N), reflecting a CWE-476 NULL pointer dereference that causes a denial-of-service crash, not code execution or data compromise. EPSS corroborates the low urgency at 0.14% (34th percentile), and there is no CISA KEV listing and no public exploit, so there is no evidence of exploitation. The practical risk is bounded: an admin-authenticated DoS is largely an abuse-of-trust/post-compromise concern rather than an externally weaponizable flaw. No key data is conflicting; the main caveat is that the only impact worth patching for is service disruption by an already-privileged actor.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An attacker who has already obtained QNAP administrator credentials (e.g., via phishing, credential reuse, or an earlier compromise) sends a crafted request over the network that triggers a NULL pointer dereference, crashing the affected service or device and denying availability to legitimate users. No public exploit code has been identified, and the requirement for an administrator account makes this a post-authentication abuse scenario rather than opportunistic mass exploitation.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).
Patch available 0.1% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv2 – Oct 18, 2026

Privileged denial-of-service in QNAP QTS and QuTS hero lets an attacker who already holds an administrator account crash affected NAS services by triggering a NULL pointer dereference. QTS 5.2.x and QuTS hero h5.2.x before 5.2.6.3195 build 20250715 are affected; impact is availability-only and requires high privileges, and no public exploit has been identified at time of analysis (EPSS 0.14%).

Earlier versions of this analysis (1)
v1 Mar 13, 2026 - 19:29 CVSS 4.9

RemediationAI

Upgrade to QTS 5.2.6.3195 build 20250715 or later, or QuTS hero h5.2.6.3195 build 20250715 or later, as documented in QNAP advisory QSA-25-36 (https://www.qnap.com/en/security-advisory/qsa-25-36). Because exploitation requires an existing administrator account, reduce exposure by enforcing strong unique admin credentials, disabling default or unused administrator accounts where possible, restricting management-interface access to trusted networks or VPN, and auditing for compromised admin sessions. If immediate upgrade is not possible, these access-control and credential-hardening measures lower the likelihood of privileged misuse but do not remove the underlying NULL pointer dereference, and no other vendor workaround is identified in the provided data.

Affected VersionsENISA

QuTS hero h5.2.x <h5.2.6.3195 build 20250715
QTS 5.2.x <5.2.6.3195 build 20250715

Affects your stack

Find out whether the stacks and servers you run are on an affected version.

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

The flaw is a CWE-476 NULL pointer dereference in QNAP's NAS operating system. When a user with administrator privileges reaches the vulnerable code path, the process dereferences a null pointer and terminates, producing a denial-of-service condition. The supplied CPE data enumerates QuTS hero builds h5.2.0.2737 through h5.2.2.2952, and EUVD extends the affected range to QTS 5.2.x and QuTS hero h5.2.x prior to 5.2.6.3195 build 20250715. The CVSS 4.0 vector (AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VA:L) and the independent CVSS 3.1 assessment agree that the administrator-account prerequisite is the dominant limiting factor; there is no confidentiality or integrity impact.

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Severity by source

Vendor (qnapsecurity) PRIMARY 5.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
vuln.today AI 2.7 LOW

Network-reachable with low complexity but requires an administrator account (PR:H); only a DoS crash results, so C:N/I:N and A:L with unchanged scope.

3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
4.0 AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Primary rating from Vendor (qnapsecurity).

CVSS VectorVendor: qnapsecurity

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Attack Requirements
None
Privileges Required
High
User Interaction
None
Vulnerable system: Confidentiality
None
Vulnerable system: Integrity
None
Vulnerable system: Availability
Low
Subsequent system: Confidentiality
None
Subsequent system: Integrity
None
Subsequent system: Availability
None

Lifecycle Timeline

3
CVSS changed
Oct 18, 2026 - 21:38 NVD
4.9 (MEDIUM) 5.1 (MEDIUM)
Patch available
Apr 16, 2026 - 05:29 EUVD
5.2.6.3195
CVE Published
Oct 03, 2025 - 19:15 nvd
MEDIUM 4.9

DescriptionCVE.org

A NULL pointer dereference vulnerability has been reported to affect several QNAP operating system versions. If a remote attacker gains an administrator account, they can then exploit the vulnerability to launch a denial-of-service (DoS) attack.

We have already fixed the vulnerability in the following versions: QTS 5.2.6.3195 build 20250715 and later QuTS hero h5.2.6.3195 build 20250715 and later

Executive ViewAI

Why It Matters

Organizations using A NULL pointer dereference vulnerability should be aware of moderate risk from CVE-2025-52859, a null pointer dereference vulnerability rated CVSS 4.9. Exploitation could compromise the security of affected deployments. Organizations should apply vendor updates when available and monitor for exploitation.

Business Impact: Low
Compensating Controls

Apply vendor patch. If patching is delayed: enable ASLR/DEP, apply network segmentation.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.1%
Top 66% exploitable
Prevalence
Medium
QNAP NAS appliances are common in SMB/prosumer environments but vendor-specific
Data Quality
4 sources
Confidence: Medium

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity MEDIUM
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.1%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Defer
Exploitation· derived
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable· derived
No
Human Impact
Low

Priority Score

26
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +26
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

A null pointer dereference occurs when a program attempts to access memory through a pointer that has been set to NULL (address 0x0).

Denial of Service attacks render applications or systems unavailable by overwhelming resources or triggering failure conditions.

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