CVE-2025-48817
Published: 08 July 2025
Summary
CVE-2025-48817 is a high-severity Relative Path Traversal (CWE-23) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows Server 2008. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Client Execution (T1203); ranked in the top 35.1% 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 SI-10 (Information Input Validation) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation).
Threat & Defense at a Glance
Threat & Defense Details
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5)AI
Timely remediation of the known path traversal flaw in Remote Desktop Client via patching directly prevents remote code execution exploitation.
Validating path inputs received by the Remote Desktop Client comprehensively blocks relative path traversal attempts leading to unauthorized code execution.
Enforcing access control policies restricts the scope of path traversal exploitation by limiting unauthorized access to files and system resources.
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Path traversal in RDP client directly enables remote code execution via malicious server interaction.
NVD Description
Relative path traversal in Remote Desktop Client allows an unauthorized attacker to execute code over a network.
Deeper analysisAI
CVE-2025-48817 is a relative path traversal vulnerability in the Remote Desktop Client that allows an unauthorized attacker to execute code over a network. Published on 2025-07-08, it is linked to CWE-23 (Relative Path Traversal) and CWE-284 (Improper Access Control), with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).
The vulnerability can be exploited by an unauthorized attacker over the network with low attack complexity and no privileges required, though it demands user interaction. Successful exploitation results in high impacts to confidentiality, integrity, and availability, enabling remote code execution on affected systems.
The Microsoft Security Response Center advisory at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2025-48817 details mitigations and available patches.
Details
- CWE(s)