Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-64666

Microsoft Exchange Server 2016 … 2019

Published
09 December 2025
Modified
15 June 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.010 60th percentile
Risk Priority 55 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-64666 is a high-severity Improper Input Validation (CWE-20) vulnerability in Microsoft Exchange Server. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked in the top 40% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Improper input validation in Microsoft Exchange Server allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges over a network.

CWE(s)

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.
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.
Why these techniques?

Improper input validation (CWE-20) in Microsoft Exchange Server enables remote privilege escalation over a network, directly mapping to Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068) and Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190).

Confidence: HIGH · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-59248Same product: Microsoft Exchange Server
CVE-2025-25005Same product: Microsoft Exchange Server
CVE-2026-45504Same product: Microsoft Exchange Server
CVE-2026-45500Same product: Microsoft Exchange Server
CVE-2026-55009Same product: Microsoft Exchange Server
CVE-2026-55005Same product: Microsoft Exchange Server
CVE-2026-45502Same product: Microsoft Exchange Server
CVE-2026-45503Same product: Microsoft Exchange Server
CVE-2026-45583Same product: Microsoft Exchange Server
CVE-2026-45501Same product: Microsoft Exchange Server

Affected Assets

microsoft
exchange server
2016, 2019
microsoft
exchange server subscription edition
≤ 15.02.2562.035

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • SI-10 Information Input Validation
  • AC-3 Access Enforcement
  • AC-6 Least Privilege
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 6 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Directly requires validation of all input to the Exchange Server, blocking the malformed data that enables the CWE-20 privilege escalation.

prevent

Enforces access-control decisions on every request so that even an authorized user cannot exceed their assigned privileges via the input-validation flaw.

prevent

Limits the permissions granted to Exchange accounts, reducing the impact and reach of any successful privilege-escalation attempt over the network.

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
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly require and enforce input validation during development.

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.

detects

Testing against a defined set of requirements and using code review plus vulnerability scanning forces validation of inputs and handling of unanticipated conditions, reducing the chance that malformed data will be accepted.

prevents

Secure-coding guidelines and mandatory security testing (including code scans) compel developers to validate and sanitize inputs at design and implementation time, lowering the incidence of malformed or malicious data reaching downstream components.

prevents

Mandating input controls that include integrity checks and input validation ensures that untrusted data is examined before use, blocking the root cause of many injection and malformed-data weaknesses.

prevents

Security-by-design principles explicitly call for data validation and sanitization at every layer, reducing the chance that malformed or malicious input will be processed without scrutiny.

prevents

Requiring language-specific secure coding standards, peer review, SAST and documented mitigation of common programming errors forces validation of all inputs before they are trusted.

none

Regular automated validation of system software and data content, combined with scanning of all inbound files, enforces input validation at the boundary before untrusted content is processed.

References