CVE-2025-21285
Published: 14 January 2025
Summary
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 Application or System Exploitation (T1499.004); ranked in the top 2.4% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 SC-5 (Denial-of-service Protection) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation).
Deeper analysis
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.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-2350
Vulnerability details
Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ) Denial of Service Vulnerability
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Remote unauthenticated NULL pointer dereference in MSMQ directly enables Endpoint DoS via application exploitation (T1499.004).
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Timely flaw remediation through applying Microsoft patches directly eliminates the MSMQ null pointer dereference vulnerability preventing DoS exploitation.
Denial-of-service protection mechanisms like rate limiting and resource throttling directly mitigate remote unauthenticated attacks triggering the MSMQ crash.
Least functionality by disabling or restricting MSMQ when not essential reduces the attack surface for this network-exposed service.