Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-62456

Memory Safety in Microsoft Windows 11 23H2 ≤ 10.0.22631.6345

Published
09 December 2025
Modified
12 December 2025
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.011 62th percentile
Risk Priority 66 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-62456 is a high-severity Heap-based Buffer Overflow (CWE-122) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 11 23H2. 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 38% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — 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-2025-62456 is a heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability, classified under CWE-122, affecting the Windows Resilient File System (ReFS). This flaw resides in a core component of Windows systems that support ReFS, a Microsoft file system designed for resilience and scalability. The vulnerability was published on 2025-12-09 and carries 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), reflecting its high severity due to network accessibility and significant impact potential.

An authorized attacker with low privileges (PR:L) can exploit this vulnerability remotely over the network (AV:N) with low attack complexity (AC:L) and no user interaction (UI:N). Successful exploitation enables arbitrary code execution, granting high impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability (C:H/I:H/A:H) within the unchanged scope (S:U).

The Microsoft Security Response Center provides an update guide for CVE-2025-62456 at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2025-62456, which addresses mitigation and patching details.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Heap-based buffer overflow in Windows Resilient File System (ReFS) allows an authorized attacker to execute code over a network.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
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.
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-20876Same product: Microsoft Windows 11 23H2
CVE-2026-62695Same product: Microsoft Windows 11 23H2
CVE-2026-47652Same product: Microsoft Windows 11 23H2
CVE-2026-61359Same product: Microsoft Windows 11 23H2
CVE-2026-41096Same product: Microsoft Windows 11 23H2
CVE-2026-33841Same product: Microsoft Windows 11 23H2
CVE-2026-20864Same product: Microsoft Windows 11 23H2
CVE-2025-62454Same product: Microsoft Windows 11 23H2
CVE-2026-20837Same product: Microsoft Windows 11 23H2
CVE-2026-24283Same product: Microsoft Windows 11 24H2

Affected Assets

microsoft
windows 11 23h2
≤ 10.0.22631.6345
microsoft
windows 11 24h2
≤ 10.0.26100.7392
microsoft
windows 11 25h2
≤ 10.0.26200.7392
microsoft
windows server 2022
≤ 10.0.20348.4467
microsoft
windows server 2022 23h2
≤ 10.0.25398.2025
microsoft
windows server 2025
≤ 10.0.26100.7392

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.4.1

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and evaluation (including fuzzing and memory-error detectors) can discover heap overflows after they have been coded.

Input validation enforces bounds checking on data written to heap buffers, directly stopping the overflow condition from being introduced.

Security engineering principles require use of memory-safe constructs and bounds-checked allocation routines that avoid introducing heap overflows.

Memory-protection mechanisms limit the ability of a heap overflow to execute attacker-controlled code or corrupt adjacent structures.

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 full match
prevents

Secure-development practices directly require bounds checking and safe memory handling that prevent heap overflows.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover heap-overflow flaws but does not prevent their introduction in code.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Timely patching removes known heap-overflow instances after they exist.

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.

finds

Security testing in development and acceptance can detect heap overflows before release.

prevents

Secure development lifecycle mandates practices that reduce the likelihood of introducing heap overflows.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify bounds-checking and safe memory APIs that mitigate heap overflows.

prevents

Secure architecture and engineering principles include memory-safety and input-validation controls that address heap overflows.

prevents

Secure coding standards directly prescribe techniques (safe functions, bounds checks) that prevent heap-based buffer overflows.

none

Change management ensures controlled deployment of fixes for discovered heap-overflow vulnerabilities.

References