CVE-2025-22453
Published: 10 February 2026
Summary
CVE-2025-22453 is a high-severity Improper Input Validation (CWE-20) vulnerability in Intel (inferred from references). 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 9.2th 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-10 (Information Input Validation) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation).
Deeper analysis
CVE-2025-22453 is an improper input validation vulnerability affecting the Server Firmware Update Utility (SysFwUpdt) prior to version 16.0.12, specifically within Ring 3 user applications. This flaw, classified under CWE-20, enables an escalation of privilege and has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H). Published on February 10, 2026, it poses high impacts to confidentiality, integrity, and availability on vulnerable systems.
Exploitation requires local access by a system software adversary possessing a privileged user account (PR:H), combined with a high-complexity attack (AC:H) that demands no user interaction (UI:N). Successful attacks can lead to local code execution with a changed scope (S:C), potentially compromising the targeted system without special internal knowledge.
For mitigation details, refer to the Intel Security Advisory at https://intel.com/content/www/us/en/security-center/advisory/intel-sa-01325.html, which provides guidance on updates and protective measures.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-207434
Vulnerability details
Improper input validation for some Server Firmware Update Utility(SysFwUpdt) before version 16.0.12 within Ring 3: User Applications may allow an escalation of privilege. System software adversary with a privileged user combined with a high complexity attack may enable local code…
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execution. This result may potentially occur via local access when attack requirements are present without special internal knowledge and requires no user interaction. The potential vulnerability may impact the confidentiality (high), integrity (high) and availability (high) of the vulnerable system, resulting in subsequent system confidentiality (none), integrity (none) and availability (none) impacts.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Local privilege escalation via improper input validation (CWE-20) in a Ring-3 utility directly matches Exploitation for Privilege Escalation.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Directly requires identification, reporting, and correction of the improper input validation flaw in SysFwUpdt by applying the update to version 16.0.12.
Mandates implementation of input validation mechanisms at entry points in Ring 3 applications like SysFwUpdt to block malformed inputs leading to privilege escalation.
Enforces least privilege for users and processes executing SysFwUpdt, limiting the scope and impact of privilege escalation from already privileged accounts.