Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:HSummary
CVE-2025-21285 is a high-severity NULL Pointer Dereference (CWE-476) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 10 1507. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Endpoint Denial of Service (T1499); ranked in the top 1% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; 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-15 (Development Process, Standards, and Tools) — 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.
Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ) contains a denial-of-service vulnerability tracked as CVE-2025-21285. The flaw is a NULL pointer dereference (CWE-476) that can be triggered remotely, producing a CVSS 7.5 score that reflects network attackability without authentication or user interaction and a high impact on availability. It affects the MSMQ component in supported Windows versions.
An unauthenticated attacker can send specially crafted network messages to an MSMQ endpoint, causing the service to crash and thereby disrupting queued messaging for any applications or systems that rely on it. Because the attack requires no privileges or user interaction, it can be launched from anywhere on the network that can reach the MSMQ listener.
Microsoft’s Security Response Center advisory at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2025-21285 supplies the official patch and mitigation guidance. The associated EPSS score has reached 0.4323 without a documented climb from a lower baseline, indicating sustained rather than newly emerging exploitation interest.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-2350
Vulnerability Data
Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ) Denial of Service Vulnerability
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and evaluation (including static analysis) directly finds null-dereference bugs before deployment.
Documented development standards and tools can enforce null-safety rules and safe pointer usage.
Engineering principles can mandate defensive coding such as explicit null checks before dereference.
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.
Secure SDLC practices (static analysis, code review, safe coding standards) directly prevent NULL dereference bugs during development.
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.
Security testing can detect NULL dereference defects before release.
Secure SDLC mandates defensive coding practices that can prevent NULL dereferences.
Application security requirements can specify input validation and pointer-safety rules.
Secure architecture principles encourage defensive design that avoids unsafe pointer use.
Secure coding standards directly require NULL-pointer checks and safe dereference patterns.