Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-55227

HighRCE

Published: 09 September 2025

Published
09 September 2025
Modified
12 September 2025
KEV Added
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Patch
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CVSS Score v3.1 8.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0087 75.7th percentile
Risk Priority 18 60% EPSS · 20% KEV · 20% CVSS

Summary

CVE-2025-55227 is a high-severity Command Injection (CWE-77) vulnerability in Microsoft Sql Server 2016. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked in the top 24.3% 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).

Deeper analysis

CVE-2025-55227 is an improper neutralization of special elements used in a command, resulting in command injection (CWE-77), affecting SQL Server. Published on 2025-09-09T17:16:05.900, the vulnerability has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

An authorized attacker with low privileges (PR:L) can exploit this vulnerability over the network (AV:N) with low complexity (AC:L) and no user interaction (UI:N). Successful exploitation enables privilege escalation, granting high impacts on confidentiality (C:H), integrity (I:H), and availability (A:H) without changing scope (S:U).

Microsoft's update guide at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2025-55227 provides details on mitigation and patches for this vulnerability.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability details

Improper neutralization of special elements used in a command ('command injection') in SQL Server allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges over a network.

CWE(s)
CWE-77

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
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 →
Why these techniques?

Command injection (CWE-77) in SQL Server directly enables remote exploitation for privilege escalation (T1068) and exploitation of a network-accessible application (T1190).

Confidence: HIGH · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v18.1

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-49759Same product: Microsoft Sql Server 2016
CVE-2025-59499Same product: Microsoft Sql Server 2016
CVE-2025-24999Same product: Microsoft Sql Server 2016
CVE-2025-53727Same product: Microsoft Sql Server 2016
CVE-2025-49758Same product: Microsoft Sql Server 2016
CVE-2026-33120Same product: Microsoft Sql Server 2016
CVE-2026-26115Same product: Microsoft Sql Server 2016
CVE-2026-26116Same product: Microsoft Sql Server 2016
CVE-2026-21262Same product: Microsoft Sql Server 2016
CVE-2025-49717Same product: Microsoft Sql Server 2019

Affected Assets

microsoft
sql server 2016
13.0.6300.2 — 13.0.6470.1 · 13.0.7000.253 — 13.0.7065.1
microsoft
sql server 2017
14.0.1000.169 — 14.0.2085.1 · 14.0.3006.16 — 14.0.3505.1
microsoft
sql server 2019
15.0.2000.5 — 15.0.2145.1 · 15.0.4003.23 — 15.0.4445.1
microsoft
sql server 2022
16.0.1000.6 — 16.0.1150.1 · 16.0.4003.1 — 16.0.4212.1

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match
prevent

Directly requires input validation to neutralize special elements and prevent command injection exploits in SQL Server.

SI-2 Flaw Remediation good match
prevent

Mandates identification, reporting, and correction of flaws like this command injection vulnerability through timely patching as per Microsoft's guidance.

AC-6 Least Privilege partial match
prevent

Enforces least privilege to limit the impact of privilege escalation even if command injection succeeds from low-privilege accounts.

References