CVE-2025-31990
📋 TL;DR
HCL Velocity lacks rate limiting on certain API calls, allowing attackers to flood the system with requests and cause denial of service. This affects all users running vulnerable versions of HCL Velocity, potentially making the system unavailable to legitimate users.
💻 Affected Systems
- HCL Velocity
⚠️ Manual Verification Required
This CVE does not have specific version information in our database, so automatic vulnerability detection cannot determine if your system is affected.
Why? The CVE database entry doesn't specify which versions are vulnerable (no version ranges provided by the vendor/NVD).
🔒 Custom verification scripts are available for registered users. Sign up free to download automated test scripts.
- Review the CVE details at NVD
- Check vendor security advisories for your specific version
- Test if the vulnerability is exploitable in your environment
- Consider updating to the latest version as a precaution
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete system unavailability, extended downtime, and potential data loss or corruption from resource exhaustion.
Likely Case
Service degradation or temporary unavailability affecting user productivity and business operations.
If Mitigated
Minimal impact with proper network controls and monitoring in place.
🎯 Exploit Status
Simple HTTP flood attacks can exploit this vulnerability without authentication.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 5.1.7
Vendor Advisory: https://support.hcl-software.com/csm?id=kb_article&sysparm_article=KB0128585
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Download HCL Velocity 5.1.7 from official sources. 2. Backup current installation and data. 3. Stop HCL Velocity services. 4. Install the update following vendor documentation. 5. Restart services and verify functionality.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Web Application Firewall Rate Limiting
allImplement rate limiting rules at the WAF or load balancer level to restrict API request frequency.
Network Access Control
allRestrict API endpoint access to trusted IP addresses only.
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement network-level rate limiting using firewalls or load balancers
- Monitor API endpoints for unusual traffic patterns and implement alerting
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check HCL Velocity version via admin console or configuration files. If version is below 5.1.7, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
Check version in HCL Velocity admin interface or configuration files (location varies by deployment).Verify Fix Applied:
Confirm version is 5.1.7 or higher and test API endpoints with rate limiting enabled.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- High frequency of API calls from single IPs
- Error logs showing resource exhaustion
- Unusual spike in request volume
Network Indicators:
- Sustained high-volume traffic to API endpoints
- Multiple rapid requests from single sources
SIEM Query:
source="hcl_velocity" AND (message="*API*" OR message="*request*") | stats count by src_ip | where count > threshold