CVE-2025-29792 in Office
Summary
by MITRE • 04/08/2025
Use after free in Microsoft Office allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/09/2025
This vulnerability represents a critical use-after-free condition within Microsoft Office applications that enables local privilege escalation for authenticated attackers. The flaw occurs when the application fails to properly manage memory references after objects have been freed from memory, creating opportunities for malicious code execution. Attackers can exploit this weakness by crafting specially designed Office documents or leveraging existing file processing mechanisms to trigger the vulnerable code path.
The technical implementation involves improper handling of memory allocation and deallocation sequences within Microsoft Office's document parsing engines. When processing maliciously crafted content, the application may attempt to access memory locations that have already been released, leading to unpredictable behavior and potential code execution. This type of vulnerability is classified under CWE-416 which specifically addresses Use After Free conditions in software implementations. The vulnerability exists across multiple Microsoft Office products including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint applications.
From an operational perspective, successful exploitation of this use-after-free vulnerability allows attackers with basic user privileges to escalate their access level to SYSTEM or administrator rights on the target system. This privilege escalation occurs because the vulnerable code path executes within the context of elevated processes that handle Office document processing. The attack typically requires the victim to open a malicious document or be tricked into interacting with compromised Office files through social engineering techniques.
The impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple local privilege escalation as it can serve as a launching point for broader attacks within network environments. Once attackers achieve SYSTEM-level privileges, they can install persistent backdoors, modify system configurations, access sensitive data, and potentially move laterally to compromise additional systems. This makes the vulnerability particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where Office applications are widely used and often run with elevated privileges.
Mitigation strategies should focus on immediate patch application from Microsoft Security Updates as well as implementing comprehensive security controls including application whitelisting policies, restricted user permissions, and monitoring for suspicious process behavior. Network segmentation and endpoint protection solutions can help detect and prevent exploitation attempts by monitoring for known malicious file patterns or execution behaviors associated with this vulnerability class. Organizations should also consider implementing the principle of least privilege to minimize potential impact if exploitation occurs. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this as a privilege escalation technique using memory corruption vulnerabilities, specifically targeting the 'Exploitation for Privilege Escalation' tactic and 'Use After Free' technique.