Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-21281

Memory Safety in Microsoft Windows 10 1507 ≤ 10.0.10240.20890

Memory Safety
Published
14 January 2025
Modified
27 January 2025
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0060 46th percentile
Risk Priority 58 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-21281 is a high-severity Use After Free (CWE-416) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 10 1507. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Client Execution (T1203); ranked at the 46th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-8 (Security and Privacy Engineering Principles) — 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-2025-21281 is an elevation of privilege vulnerability in Microsoft COM for Windows, classified under CWE-416 (use-after-free) with an NVD-CWE-noinfo designation. Published on 2025-01-14, it carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H), indicating high severity due to its potential for significant impact on affected systems.

The vulnerability can be exploited by a local attacker who already possesses low privileges on the target Windows system. Exploitation requires low complexity and no user interaction, allowing the attacker to elevate privileges and achieve high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts within the unchanged scope.

Microsoft's update guide at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2025-21281 provides details on available patches and recommended mitigations for addressing this vulnerability.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Microsoft COM for Windows Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

CWE(s)
CWE-416NVD-CWE-noinfo

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
attack.mitre.org →
T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-49660Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2025-24044Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2024-49079Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2025-50159Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2025-21406Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2025-48821Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2025-32701Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2025-26663Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2025-26670Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2025-29824Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507

Affected Assets

microsoft
windows 10 1507
≤ 10.0.10240.20890 · ≤ 10.0.10240.20890
microsoft
windows 10 1607
≤ 10.0.14393.7699 · ≤ 10.0.14393.7699
microsoft
windows 10 1809
≤ 10.0.17763.6775 · ≤ 10.0.17763.6775
microsoft
windows 10 21h2
≤ 10.0.19044.5371
microsoft
windows 10 22h2
≤ 10.0.19045.5371
microsoft
windows 11 22h2
≤ 10.0.22621.4751
microsoft
windows 11 23h2
≤ 10.0.22631.4751
microsoft
windows 11 24h2
≤ 10.0.26100.2894
microsoft
windows server 2012
all versions, r2
microsoft
windows server 2016
≤ 10.0.14393.7699
+4 more product configuration(s) — see NVD for full list

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 3 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.4.3

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation good match

Developer testing and evaluation can discover use-after-free bugs through dynamic analysis or fuzzing.

SA-8 Security and Privacy Engineering Principles partial match

Engineering principles can require memory-safe constructs or languages that structurally avoid introducing use-after-free.

SC-39 Process Isolation partial match

Process isolation confines the blast radius of use-after-free memory corruption to a single execution domain.

SI-16 Memory Protection partial match

Memory protection controls limit exploitation impact by blocking unauthorized code execution from dangling pointers.

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.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly incorporate memory-safety tooling and reviews that prevent most use-after-free defects.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification processes can discover use-after-free issues via scanning or analysis but do not prevent their introduction.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching removes known use-after-free instances after they have been introduced in released software.

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.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing in development can detect use-after-free bugs before release.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure SDLC mandates memory-safety practices that reduce use-after-free defects.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements can specify memory-management rules that mitigate use-after-free.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture principles include memory-safety design choices that limit use-after-free exposure.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards directly prescribe avoidance of use-after-free patterns.

A.8.32 Change management partial match
prevents

Change-management processes help ensure memory-safety fixes are deployed consistently.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 8 (1 rule)
  • V-248592 OL 8 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. prevents CWE-416
RHEL 8 (1 rule)
  • V-230279 RHEL 8 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. prevents CWE-416
RHEL 9 (1 rule)
  • V-257794 RHEL 9 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. prevents CWE-416

References