Microsoft PowerPoint use after free

CVSS Meta Temp Score
CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.
Current Exploit Price (≈)
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CTI Interest Score
Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
6.1$0-$5k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Microsoft PowerPoint. It has been declared as critical. Affected is an unknown function. Executing a manipulation can lead to use after free. This vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2025-29978. The attack can be launched remotely. No exploit exists. It is advisable to implement a patch to correct this issue.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical was found in Microsoft PowerPoint (version now known). This vulnerability affects some unknown processing. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

The weakness was disclosed 05/13/2025 as confirmed security update guide (Website). The advisory is shared for download at msrc.microsoft.com. This vulnerability was named CVE-2025-29978. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack can be initiated remotely. No form of authentication is required for a successful exploitation. Successful exploitation requires user interaction by the victim. There are neither technical details nor an exploit publicly available. The current price for an exploit might be approx. USD $0-$5k (estimation calculated on 05/17/2025).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 236842 (Security Updates for Microsoft PowerPoint Products (May 2025)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Applying a patch is able to eliminate this problem. A possible mitigation has been published immediately after the disclosure of the vulnerability.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at Tenable (236842). Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

Vendor

Name

License

Website

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 7.0
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 6.1

VulDB Base Score: 6.3
VulDB Temp Score: 5.5
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Vendor Base Score (Microsoft): 7.8
Vendor Vector (Microsoft): 🔍

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
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VectorComplexityAuthenticationConfidentialityIntegrityAvailability
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VulDB Base Score: 🔍
VulDB Temp Score: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Use after free
CWE: CWE-416 / CWE-119
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔍
Status: Unproven

EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

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Nessus ID: 236842
Nessus Name: Security Updates for Microsoft PowerPoint Products (May 2025)

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Patch
Status: 🔍

Reaction Time: 🔍
0-Day Time: 🔍
Exposure Time: 🔍

Timelineinfo

05/13/2025 🔍
05/13/2025 +0 days 🔍
05/13/2025 +0 days 🔍
05/17/2025 +4 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: microsoft.com

Advisory: msrc.microsoft.com
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2025-29978 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2025-29978
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-308692

Entryinfo

Created: 05/13/2025 19:30
Updated: 05/17/2025 15:11
Changes: 05/13/2025 19:30 (30), 05/13/2025 19:33 (38), 05/17/2025 15:11 (2)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Discussion

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