CVE-2025-11602 in Community Edition
Summary
by MITRE • 10/31/2025
Potential information leak in bolt protocol handshake in Neo4j Enterprise and Community editions allows attacker to obtain one byte of information from previous connections. The attacker has no control over the information leaked in server responses.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/31/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2025-11602 represents a subtle yet significant information disclosure flaw within the Neo4j database system's bolt protocol implementation. This issue affects both Enterprise and Community editions of the database software, creating a potential attack surface that could be exploited by malicious actors. The vulnerability manifests during the protocol handshake phase, which is a critical initial step in establishing secure communication between client applications and the Neo4j server. The bolt protocol serves as the primary communication channel for Neo4j, handling all database operations and maintaining connection state information that is essential for proper system functionality.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from an improper handling of cryptographic state information during the handshake process. Specifically, the flaw allows an attacker to extract exactly one byte of information from previous connections, though the attacker cannot directly control or manipulate what specific data is revealed. This type of information leakage occurs due to insufficient randomization or state management during the cryptographic handshake, potentially exposing remnants of previous session data or cryptographic parameters. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-200 as "Information Exposure" and could potentially map to ATT&CK technique T1552.1 "Unsecured Credentials" when considering the broader implications of credential exposure through protocol manipulation. The one-byte leakage might seem trivial at first glance, but in the context of cryptographic protocols, even minimal information disclosure can provide attackers with valuable entropy for more sophisticated attacks.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information leakage, as it could enable attackers to perform statistical analysis or pattern recognition across multiple connections to infer sensitive information about the system or its users. In enterprise environments where Neo4j serves as a critical data store, this vulnerability could facilitate more advanced attacks such as session hijacking, credential inference, or even facilitate further exploitation of other vulnerabilities within the system. The fact that this affects both Enterprise and Community editions means that organizations across different deployment scales are potentially at risk, though Enterprise users may have additional monitoring capabilities that could help detect such anomalies. The vulnerability's presence in the handshake phase is particularly concerning as it occurs before any meaningful authentication or authorization checks, potentially allowing attackers to gather information even before establishing legitimate connections.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2025-11602 should focus on implementing proper cryptographic randomization and state management during the bolt protocol handshake. Organizations should ensure that all Neo4j instances are updated to the latest patched versions that address this specific information leakage issue. Network monitoring should be enhanced to detect unusual patterns in connection establishment and data flow that could indicate exploitation attempts. Security teams should also consider implementing additional layers of protection such as connection rate limiting, network segmentation, and comprehensive logging of all bolt protocol interactions. The vulnerability highlights the importance of proper cryptographic protocol implementation and the need for thorough security testing of all handshake mechanisms in database systems. Organizations should also review their overall security posture and consider implementing techniques such as TLS session resumption with proper state management to prevent similar issues from occurring in other components of their infrastructure.