CATS Platform Showcases NIS2 Excellence with Early Veeam Warning
Brussels, June 2025 — Europe has entered a new era of operational cybersecurity maturity. With the recent fast-tracked dissemination of a critical Veeam Backup & Replication vulnerability (CVE-2025-23120), the European vulnerability alerting ecosystem has proven its efficiency, marking a milestone in NIS2 implementation.
Real-World Early Warning: Veeam CVE-2025-23120
A software development company working at ISO/IEC 27001 Level 3 maturity was among the first to receive an early warning on the Veeam remote code execution (RCE) flaw, thanks to its integration with CATS (Compliance Audit Tracking System). The alert gave them a strategic edge: they patched their systems, updated internal controls, and documented actions for NIS2 and ISO compliance—all before the vulnerability became widely known.
CATS: Compliance Made Simple, Actionable, and Smart
CATS is not just another GRC tool. It is a Compliance Audit Tracking System providing customers with:
- Policy Generator Suites aligned with ISO/IEC 27001, NIS2, and DORA;
- A Due Diligence Engine for evaluating ICT business-critical suppliers;
- A KISS-style GRC Dashboard (Keep It Stupid Simple) to empower teams and managers as steering compliance stakeholders.
This user-centric approach simplifies governance, supports automation, and bridges legal, operational, and executive layers in one unified interface.
“With CATS, we’re not just reacting — we’re steering the compliance strategy proactively. From vulnerability alert to policy update, it’s a closed loop system,” noted a, Risk & Resilience Lead at the dev company.
This early warning allowed the development company to:
- Patch their Veeam infrastructure within 48 hours of the vulnerability’s disclosure;
- Isolate backup environments to reduce blast radius;
- Update their risk register and evidence logs, supporting real-time compliance with NIS2 Article 21 and ISO/IEC 27001:2022 clauses 6.1.3 and A.5.30 (ICT readiness for continuity).
🛡 CATS: From Policy to Protection
The CATS platform, which supports organizations across sectors with automated, intelligence-backed early warnings, played a pivotal role in bridging national CSIRTs, ENISA feeds, and localized compliance frameworks. By integrating threat advisories with ISO 27001:2022 control mapping and NIS2 obligations, CATS ensures that security actions are not only technically sound but also verifiably compliant.
“This marks a turning point where Europe doesn’t just mandate cybersecurity—it’s actively operationalizing resilience,” says Karin Printemps, senior compliance and Risk expert at CATS.
🏛 Bridging NIS2, ISO 27001, and DORA Requirements
CATS enables organizations to:
- Receive automated early warnings mapped to specific compliance obligations;
- Link technical vulnerabilities to actionable ISO/IEC 27001 controls (e.g., A.5.30, A.8.25);
- Automate Board-level reporting in line with DORA Article 5 and NIS2 Article 21;
- Perform instant policy refresh cycles aligned with 12-month review expectations.
Excellence Through Integration
The Veeam vulnerability case is more than an isolated success — it reflects a maturing cyber governance landscape in Europe:
- Proactive cyber-risk handling rather than reactive patching;
- Empowerment of teams as frontline compliance actors, not passive recipients;
- Tangible operationalization of resilience-by-design principles from NIS2 and DORA.
✳️ Conclusion: A Playbook for Europe’s Digital Future
With platforms like CATS, Europe is proving that cybersecurity, compliance, and business agility can coexist. The early warning mechanism for CVE-2025-23120 showcases what’s possible when NIS2 obligations meet intelligent tooling: speed, simplicity, and strategic control.
From alerts to audits, from patching to policy — Europe is now not just setting the rules, but actively enabling their success.
Why It Matters
This case illustrates what NIS2 compliance looks like when fully operational: predictive, collaborative, and risk-reducing. Europe is not only setting the bar but proving that resilience can be systematized — and exported as a best practice.
📡 Follow the evolution of CATS and the future of resilience-led governance at nis2.news.
Example :
Vulnerability Overview: CVE‑2025‑23120
- Attack type: Authenticated Remote Code Execution (RCE) on domain-joined Backup Server
- Severity: Critical — CVSS v3.1 9.9 veeam.com+11veeam.com+11community.veeam.com+11
- Affected versions: Veeam Backup & Replication 12.3.0.310 and earlier maintenance/12.x builds
- Exploit prerequisites: The attacker must have a valid domain user account — not just a Veeam user.
More information can be found here
Key risk: Any compromised or malicious domain account—even a seemingly harmless one—could allow full system takeover via remote code execution.
🔍 Risk Factors in a SaaS Context
- Domain-joined backup servers
If your Veeam servers are integrated into your Active Directory domain, they are fully vulnerable. Workgroup setups remain unaffected. - User account management
Allowing too many domain accounts (especially domain users) access to Veeam elevates danger. Limiting Veeam user access is critical. - Patch delay risk
Attackers reverse-engineer public patches quickly. Unpatched systems are highly exploitable soon after disclosure f - Chained vulnerabilities
Even before this RCE, there were multiple high-severity issues (credential exposure, privilege escalation) fixed in 12.3 community. — an attacker could chain exploits if patches are delayed.
🏃♂️ Mitigation Strategies
✅ Immediate Actions
- Upgrade urgently to Veeam 12.3.1 (build 12.3.1.1139) veeam.com+3veeam.com+3community.veeam.com+3.
- Restrict domain access: Ensure only designated Veeam service/admin accounts are in the domain and in application access lists.
- Audit domain-joined servers: Confirm none are inadvertently joined to production AD without clear access controls.
⚙️ Intermediate Best Practices
- Implement least-privilege: Veeam accounts should have just enough rights (e.g. “Operator”) and no more.
- Perform regular credential rotation: Especially service account and user credentials.
- Monitor logs for unusual behavior—especially RCE patterns or user privilege anomalies.
🔄 Long-term Controls
- Enforce patch management cadence: Aim for ≤30 days from patch release to deployment.
- Improve vulnerability management: Track CVEs across all Veeam components, including Veeam ONE and VSPC, which have had other critical issues community.veeam.com+1veeam.com+1.
- Separate backup and domain resources: For example, run backup servers in isolated AD units or dedicated environments.
📋 Summary Risk Matrix
| Risk Aspect | Impact Level | Likelihood (pre-patch) | Mitigation Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| RCE via domain account | Critical | High | Patch now—deploy 12.3.1 |
| Credential and privilege leaks | High | High (older versions) | Already addressed in 12.3 |
| Attack surface via domain join | Medium to High | Moderate | Restrict and audit domain membership |
| Log monitoring weaknesses | Medium | Moderate (no audit S.O.P) | Recommend SIEM integration |
✅ Final Recommendations
- Immediately patch all Veeam Backup & Replication servers to 12.3.1.
- Lock down domain access: Only essential, vetted accounts should have Veeam login rights.
- Review user roles and remove unnecessary accounts, especially in Viewer/Operator roles.
- Harden backup servers: Isolate domain-joined servers, tighten network segmentation and firewall rules.
- Monitor and review logs for suspicious activity, especially around service executions.
- Introduce or reinforce patch governance to cover all critical and high-severity vulnerabilities promptly.
