CVE-2025-13706
Published: 23 December 2025
Summary
CVE-2025-13706 is a high-severity Deserialization of Untrusted Data (CWE-502) vulnerability in Zerodayinitiative (inferred from references). Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).
Operationally, ranked in the top 18.2% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
Deeper analysis
Tencent PatrickStar contains a deserialization of untrusted data vulnerability in the merge_checkpoint endpoint, tracked as CVE-2025-13706 and originally reported as ZDI-CAN-27182. The flaw stems from insufficient validation of user-supplied input, enabling remote code execution on affected installations when the endpoint processes malicious data. The issue carries a CVSS 3.0 score of 7.8 and is classified under CWE-502.
An attacker can trigger the vulnerability by supplying a crafted checkpoint file or directing a victim to a malicious page or file, resulting in arbitrary code execution with root privileges. No authentication is required, though user interaction is necessary to initiate the attack.
The referenced GitHub commit 2384535503ea98cfe35ad04e20c0cfc7bf58d5d7 addresses the issue in PatrickStar, while the Zero Day Initiative advisory ZDI-25-1034 provides additional technical details for defenders. The associated EPSS score has remained flat at 0.0155 with no material increase since disclosure.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-204971
Vulnerability details
Tencent PatrickStar merge_checkpoint Deserialization of Untrusted Data Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of Tencent PatrickStar. User interaction is required to exploit this vulnerability in that the target must visit…
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a malicious page or open a malicious file. The specific flaw exists within the merge_checkpoint endpoint. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of user-supplied data, which can result in deserialization of untrusted data. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of root. Was ZDI-CAN-27182.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
No named actor attribution yet. ATT&CK technique mapping in progress for this CVE.
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Likely Mitigating Controls AI
Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.
Penetration testing supplies malicious serialized objects, detecting unsafe deserialization and supporting corrective actions.
Evaluation of untrusted data handling (deserialization testing) reveals unsafe processing, which the required remediation process addresses.
Untrusted serialized data can be deserialized and observed inside the chamber, blocking gadget-chain exploitation outside the sandbox.
Validates or rejects untrusted serialized data before deserialization occurs.
Identifies and blocks malicious code introduced through deserialization of untrusted data at system boundaries.
Integrity verification of serialized information can detect tampering before deserialization occurs.
Provenance of associated data allows detection of untrusted sources before deserialization or processing occurs.