Summary
The Fides Webserver API's built-in IP-based rate limiting is ineffective in environments with CDNs, proxies or load balancers. The system incorrectly applies rate limits based on directly connected infrastructure IPs rather than client IPs, and stores counters in-memory rather than in a shared store. This allows attackers to bypass intended rate limits and potentially cause denial of service.
This vulnerability only affects deployments relying on Fides's built-in rate limiting for protection. Deployments using external rate limiting solutions (WAFs, API gateways, etc.) are not affected.
Details
The vulnerability has two components:
- Rate limiting uses the immediate connection source IP instead of the actual client IP
- Rate limit counters are maintained in-memory per container rather than in a shared store
In production environments, these issues allow clients to exceed intended rate limits and enable attackers to trigger rate limits on infrastructure IPs, causing legitimate clients to receive 429 responses.
Workarounds
There are no application-level workarounds. However, rate limiting may instead be implemented externally at the infrastructure level using a WAF, API Gateway, or similar technology.
Risk Level
This vulnerability has been assigned a severity of MEDIUM.
Impact
This vulnerability affects availability, allowing attackers to:
- Bypass rate limits, potentially leading to resource exhaustion
- Cause a denial of service for legitimate clients by deliberately triggering rate limits on infrastructure IPs
The application allocates resources such as memory, threads, or file descriptors based on untrusted input without enforcing a cap. Typical impact: resource exhaustion leading to denial of service.
CVE-2025-57816 has a CVSS score of 7.5 (Medium). The vector is network-reachable, no privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (2.69.1); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
Remediation advice
The vulnerability has been patched in Fides version 2.69.1. Users are advised to upgrade to this version or later to secure their systems against this threat.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2025-57816? CVE-2025-57816 is a medium-severity allocation of resources without limits or throttling vulnerability in ethyca-fides (pip), affecting versions < 2.69.1. It is fixed in 2.69.1. The application allocates resources such as memory, threads, or file descriptors based on untrusted input without enforcing a cap.
- How severe is CVE-2025-57816? CVE-2025-57816 has a CVSS score of 7.5 (Medium). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
- Which versions of ethyca-fides are affected by CVE-2025-57816? ethyca-fides (pip) versions < 2.69.1 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2025-57816? Yes. CVE-2025-57816 is fixed in 2.69.1. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2025-57816 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2025-57816 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether CVE-2025-57816 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
- How do I fix CVE-2025-57816? Upgrade
ethyca-fidesto 2.69.1 or later.