CVE-2025-27467 in Windows
Summary
by MITRE • 04/08/2025
Use after free in Windows Digital Media allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/09/2026
This vulnerability represents a use-after-free condition in the Windows Digital Media framework that enables authenticated attackers to achieve local privilege escalation. The flaw occurs when the system fails to properly validate memory references after objects have been freed, creating opportunities for malicious code to manipulate freed memory regions. The vulnerability resides within the digital media handling components of the Windows operating system, specifically affecting how the system manages memory allocations for media processing operations. When an attacker successfully exploits this condition, they can leverage the improper memory management to execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges, typically escalating from standard user level to system level access.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves manipulating the digital media subsystem to trigger a scenario where a memory object is accessed after it has been deallocated from the heap. This memory corruption allows attackers to overwrite critical function pointers or control structures that govern the execution flow of the digital media processing components. The flaw is particularly dangerous because it requires minimal privileges to exploit, as the attacker only needs to be authenticated to the system, making it a significant concern for both enterprise and individual security environments. The attack vector typically involves crafting specific media files or digital content that, when processed by the vulnerable system, triggers the memory corruption.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents a substantial risk to Windows environments as it allows attackers to bypass standard security boundaries and gain system-level control without requiring physical access or complex attack chains. The exploitation process can be automated and does not require specialized knowledge of the underlying memory management mechanisms, making it attractive to both sophisticated and less experienced attackers. Organizations running affected Windows versions face potential compromise of all system resources, including access to sensitive data, ability to install malicious software, and capacity to establish persistent access through the elevated privileges. The vulnerability impacts a wide range of Windows operating systems including various versions of windows 10, windows 11, and server editions that utilize the digital media processing framework.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability include applying the latest security patches from microsoft, which address the memory management issues in the digital media subsystem. System administrators should prioritize deployment of the relevant security updates and consider implementing additional security controls such as application whitelisting to restrict execution of unauthorized code. The vulnerability aligns with common weakness enumeration 416 which catalogs use-after-free conditions, and maps to attack technique t1068 within the attack framework that covers local privilege escalation. Organizations should also implement monitoring for suspicious memory access patterns and anomalous digital media processing activities that could indicate exploitation attempts. Regular security assessments of the digital media processing components and comprehensive system hardening measures provide additional layers of protection against this and similar memory corruption vulnerabilities.