Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-21382

Memory Safety in Microsoft Windows 10 1809 ≤ 10.0.17763.6775

Published
14 January 2025
Modified
17 January 2025
Patch / 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 0.0050 41th percentile
Risk Priority 61 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-21382 is a high-severity Heap-based Buffer Overflow (CWE-122) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 10 1809. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 41th 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 SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — 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.

The vulnerability CVE-2025-21382 is an elevation of privilege flaw in the Windows Graphics Component, carrying a CVSS score of 7.8 under the vector AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H and associated with CWEs including CWE-122 and CWE-190.

An attacker with local access and low privileges can exploit the issue without user interaction to achieve high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability, enabling privilege escalation on the affected Windows system.

Microsoft has published an advisory for the vulnerability at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2025-21382. The EPSS score remains flat at a peak and current value of 0.0228 with no material rise observed.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Windows Graphics Component Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

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

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-26639Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 21H2
CVE-2025-53131Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809
CVE-2025-26666Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809
CVE-2025-26674Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809
CVE-2025-32718Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809
CVE-2025-54091Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809
CVE-2025-47987Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809
CVE-2025-49683Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809
CVE-2025-49742Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809
CVE-2025-21369Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809

Affected Assets

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 2019
≤ 10.0.17763.6775
microsoft
windows server 2022
≤ 10.0.20348.3091
microsoft
windows server 2022 23h2
≤ 10.0.25398.1369
microsoft
windows server 2025
≤ 10.0.26100.2894

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.4.1
  • V5.2.6

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and evaluation (including fuzzing and memory-error detectors) can discover heap overflows after they have been coded.

Input validation enforces bounds checking on data written to heap buffers, directly stopping the overflow condition from being introduced.

Security engineering principles require use of memory-safe constructs and bounds-checked allocation routines that avoid introducing heap overflows.

Memory-protection mechanisms limit the ability of a heap overflow to execute attacker-controlled code or corrupt adjacent structures.

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 full match
prevents

Secure-development practices directly require bounds checking and safe memory handling that prevent heap overflows.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover heap-overflow flaws but does not prevent their introduction in code.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Timely patching removes known heap-overflow instances after they exist.

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.

finds

Security testing in development and acceptance can detect heap overflows before release.

prevents

Secure development lifecycle mandates practices that reduce the likelihood of introducing heap overflows.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify bounds-checking and safe memory APIs that mitigate heap overflows.

prevents

Secure architecture and engineering principles include memory-safety and input-validation controls that address heap overflows.

prevents

Secure coding standards directly prescribe techniques (safe functions, bounds checks) that prevent heap-based buffer overflows.

none

Change management ensures controlled deployment of fixes for discovered heap-overflow vulnerabilities.

References