CVE-2025-59374
RCE in Asus Live Update ≤ 3.6.8
Raw vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/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:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:XSummary
CVE-2025-59374 is a critical-severity Embedded Malicious Code (CWE-506) vulnerability in Asus Live Update. Its CVSS base score is 9.3 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Embedded Payloads (T1027.009); ranked in the top 37% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SC-44 (Detonation Chambers) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
CVE-2025-59374 involves a supply chain compromise in certain versions of the ASUS Live Update client, which were distributed with unauthorized modifications. These altered builds could cause devices meeting specific targeting conditions to perform unintended actions, classified under CWE-506 (Embedded Malicious Code). Only devices that satisfied these conditions and installed the compromised versions were affected. The Live Update client reached End-of-Support in October 2021, and no currently supported ASUS devices or products are impacted.
The vulnerability carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H), enabling remote exploitation over the network with low complexity, no privileges, and no user interaction. Attackers leveraging the supply chain compromise could target qualifying devices through the modified client, achieving high impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability by triggering unintended actions on those systems.
ASUS has issued details via their news advisory at https://www.asus.com/news/hqfgvuyz6uyayje1/, and the issue appears in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog at https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2025-59374. Given the end-of-support status, no patches are available; mitigation requires verifying that compromised versions are not installed on any legacy devices meeting the targeting conditions.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-203872
Vulnerability Data
"UNSUPPORTED WHEN ASSIGNED" Certain versions of the ASUS Live Update client were distributed with unauthorized modifications introduced through a supply chain compromise. The modified builds could cause devices meeting specific targeting conditions to perform unintended actions. Only devices that met…
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these conditions and installed the compromised versions were affected. The Live Update client has already reached End-of-Support (EOS) in October 2021, and no currently supported devices or products are affected by this issue.
- CWE(s)
- KEV Date Added
- 17 December 2025
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 3 hardening rules · 2 OS baselines
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Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and evaluation can discover embedded malicious code before release.
Detonation chambers can reveal embedded malicious code through controlled execution analysis.
Integrity verification tools directly detect unauthorized or malicious code insertions.
Tamper-resistance and detection mechanisms identify malicious code introduced via the supply chain.
Component authenticity requirements reduce the chance malicious code is embedded by developers or suppliers.
Component authenticity controls stop introduction of malicious or counterfeit code into the product.
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.
Assessing authenticity and integrity before acquisition catches embedded malicious code.
Secure SDLC practices directly prevent introduction of malicious code during development.
Due diligence prior to supplier relationships helps avoid sources of embedded malicious code.
Supplier risk assessment reduces likelihood of receiving products containing malicious code.
Pre-acquisition assessment of critical suppliers mitigates risk of malicious code in procured software.
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.
Requiring suppliers to furnish component lists, attestations, and cryptographic verification of delivered artefacts makes it harder for an attacker to embed hidden malicious code that would otherwise go undetected through the supply chain.
Checks that executed code has not been tampered with and monitoring for malware-associated activity reduce the likelihood that hidden malicious code remains active.
Banning unapproved or unknown software and requiring testing plus authorization reduces the chance that hidden malicious code will be introduced into production environments.
Hardening callouts derived
Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).
Oracle Linux 9 (1 rule)
- V-271452 OL 9 must use a Linux Security Module configured to enforce limits on system services. prevents CWE-506
RHEL 9 (1 rule)
- V-258078 RHEL 9 must use a Linux Security Module configured to enforce limits on system services. prevents CWE-506