Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:HSummary
CVE-2025-21198 is a critical-severity Missing Authentication for Critical Function (CWE-306) vulnerability in Microsoft Hpc Pack 2016. Its CVSS base score is 9.0 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation of Remote Services (T1210); ranked in the top 43% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-14 (Permitted Actions Without Identification or Authentication) and AC-3 (Access Enforcement) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
CVE-2025-21198 is a remote code execution vulnerability affecting Microsoft High Performance Compute (HPC) Pack. Published on 2025-02-11, it carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.0, reflecting its critical severity with vector AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H. The issue is linked to CWE-306 (Missing Authentication for Critical Function) and lacks additional CWE details from NVD.
Exploitation requires an attacker to have low privileges (PR:L) on an adjacent network (AV:A) with low attack complexity (AC:L) and no user interaction (UI:N). Successful exploitation allows scope change (S:C), granting high-impact remote code execution with full compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability (C:H/I:H/A:H).
The Microsoft Security Response Center advisory at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2025-21198 provides details on patches and mitigation guidance.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-2272
Vulnerability Data
Microsoft High Performance Compute (HPC) Pack Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Missing authentication enables remote exploitation of the HPC service for code execution (T1210) with scope-changing privilege escalation (T1068).
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 6 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
V6.2.3V6.4.4V10.4.16V12.1.3
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Directly remediates the specific RCE vulnerability in Microsoft HPC Pack by identifying, reporting, and applying vendor patches from the MSRC advisory.
Addresses CWE-306 missing authentication for critical function by restricting and documenting permitted actions without identification or authentication in HPC Pack.
Enforces approved authorizations for access to critical functions, preventing low-privileged adjacent network attackers from achieving RCE.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Directly requires authentication of users/services/hardware, which eliminates missing authentication for critical functions.
Managing identities and credentials is a prerequisite for authentication but does not itself enforce it on critical functions.
Defining and enforcing authorizations assumes prior authentication and therefore only partially mitigates the absence of authentication.
Protecting networks from unauthorized access can be undermined by missing authentication but does not address the root authentication gap.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
The control explicitly calls for authentication before any critical function is reached, eliminating the possibility of bypassing authentication for high-value operations.
Mandating authentication requirements for critical functions at the requirements-gathering stage ensures that essential operations are not left unprotected by missing login or verification mechanisms.
Mandating authentication for network services and critical functions stops attackers from invoking sensitive operations without credentials, closing gaps where authentication is absent for important capabilities.
Security engineering principles insist on authentication and authorization for every critical function, eliminating entry points that lack any access control mechanism.
Requiring strong authentication and access-privilege enablement for remote connections ensures that critical functions cannot be invoked without proper verification, closing a gap that would otherwise allow unauthenticated use.
Mandatory use of access cards, biometrics, or two-factor authentication ensures that critical physical areas cannot be entered without proper authentication.