Security Resilience

CVE-2025-4211

Published
16 May 2025
Modified
29 July 2026
CVSS Score v4 7.3
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:P/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
EPSS Score 0.0021 11th percentile
Risk Priority 55 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2025-4211 is a high-severity Link Following (CWE-59) vulnerability in Qt Project (inferred from references). Its CVSS base score is 7.3 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Escape to Host (T1611); ranked at the 11th 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 AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and AC-6 (Least Privilege) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A01:2025 Broken Access Control

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following') vulnerability in QFileSystemEngine in the Qt corelib module on Windows which potentially allows Symlink Attacks and the use of Malicious Files. Issue originates from CVE-2024-38081. The vulnerability arises from the use of…

more

the GetTempPath API, which can be exploited by attackers to manipulate temporary file paths, potentially leading to unauthorized access and privilege escalation. The affected public API in the Qt Framework is QDir::tempPath() and anything that uses it, such as QStandardPaths with TempLocation, QTemporaryDir, and QTemporaryFile. This issue affects all version of Qt up to and including 5.15.18, from 6.0.0 through 6.5.8, from 6.6.0 through 6.8.1. It is fixed in Qt 5.15.19, Qt 6.5.9, Qt 6.8.2, 6.9.0

CWE(s)
CWE-59

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1611 Escape to Host Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may break out of a container or virtualized environment to gain access to the underlying host.
attack.mitre.org →
T1034 Path Interception Persistence
**This technique has been deprecated.
attack.mitre.org →
T1014 Rootkit Stealth
Adversaries may use rootkits to hide the presence of programs, files, network connections, services, drivers, and other system components.
attack.mitre.org →
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.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-17171Shared CWE-59
CVE-2024-7251Shared CWE-59
CVE-2023-21678Shared CWE-59
CVE-2025-24278Shared CWE-59
CVE-2023-36047Shared CWE-59
CVE-2023-39107Shared CWE-59
CVE-2024-12216Shared CWE-59
CVE-2024-44273Shared CWE-59
CVE-2025-7073Shared CWE-59
CVE-2026-46468Shared CWE-59

Affected Assets

Qt Project
—
inferred from references and description; NVD did not file a CPE for this CVE

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

AC-3 Access Enforcement good match

Proper enforcement of access authorizations on the resolved target resource stops a link from reaching an unintended object.

AC-6 Least Privilege partial match

Least-privilege limits the damage an attacker can cause after following an unintended link.

SI-10 Information Input Validation partial match

Validating file-name inputs can reject or canonicalize names that resolve to links before access occurs.

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 mostly match
blocks

Secure SDLC practices directly require code to validate paths and avoid unsafe link following.

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.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing can detect link-following flaws before release.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards directly address canonicalization and symlink attacks during implementation.

References