CVE-2025-21419
Published: 11 February 2025
Summary
CVE-2025-21419 is a high-severity Link Following (CWE-59) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 10 1507. Its CVSS base score is 7.1 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 45.9th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 SI-2 (Flaw Remediation) and AC-6 (Least Privilege).
Deeper analysis
CVE-2025-21419 is a Windows Setup Files Cleanup Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability affecting the Windows operating system. Published on 2025-02-11, it carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.1 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H) and is associated with CWE-59 (Improper Link Resolution Before File Access) and NVD-CWE-noinfo.
A local attacker with low privileges can exploit this vulnerability through low-complexity means without requiring user interaction. Successful exploitation enables privilege escalation, leading to high impacts on system integrity and availability, though confidentiality remains unaffected.
Microsoft's Security Update Guide provides details on mitigation and patching for this vulnerability at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2025-21419.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-2477
Vulnerability details
Windows Setup Files Cleanup Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
This is a local elevation of privilege vulnerability (CWE-59 improper link resolution) that is directly exploited to gain higher privileges on the system.
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Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Directly addresses the CVE by requiring timely identification, reporting, and patching of the flaw in Windows Setup Files Cleanup improper link resolution.
Mitigates privilege escalation by enforcing least privilege on users and processes, limiting the attacker's ability to exploit low-privilege access for elevation.
Enables monitoring of system activities to detect indicators of exploitation, such as anomalous file access or privilege changes during setup cleanup operations.