CVE-2025-13663
📋 TL;DR
The Quartus Prime Pro Installer for Windows fails to verify directory permissions when installing to an existing directory, allowing attackers to potentially write malicious files to protected locations. This affects users installing Quartus Prime Pro on Windows systems where the target directory already exists. Attackers could escalate privileges or compromise system integrity.
💻 Affected Systems
- Quartus Prime Pro Installer
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Privilege escalation leading to full system compromise, installation of persistent malware, or complete system takeover.
Likely Case
Local privilege escalation allowing attackers to write files to protected directories, potentially leading to code execution with elevated privileges.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper access controls and monitoring, potentially only allowing file writes to specific directories without execution.
🎯 Exploit Status
Requires local access and ability to trigger installer with existing target directory; no known public exploits.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Latest version from vendor advisory
Vendor Advisory: https://www.altera.com/security/security-advisory/asa-0001
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Download latest Quartus Prime Pro installer from Intel/Altera official site. 2. Uninstall vulnerable version. 3. Install updated version to a new directory or ensure proper permissions on existing directory.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Use fresh installation directory
windowsAlways install to a new directory that doesn't exist, forcing proper permission checks
Set strict directory permissions
windowsManually set proper permissions on installation directories before running installer
icacls "C:\quartus_install_path" /inheritance:r /grant:r "Users:(OI)(CI)(RX)" /grant:r "Administrators:(OI)(CI)F"
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Restrict installer execution to trusted administrators only
- Monitor file system changes in installation directories for unauthorized writes
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check if installing to existing directory bypasses permission prompts; review installer version against vendor advisory.Check Version:
Check installer properties or run installer with --version flag if supportedVerify Fix Applied:
Test installation to existing directory - should prompt for elevated permissions or fail if insufficient rights.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Windows Event Logs showing file writes to protected directories without proper permissions
- Installer logs showing installation to existing directories
Network Indicators:
- None - local vulnerability only
SIEM Query:
EventID=4663 AND ObjectName LIKE '%quartus%' AND Accesses LIKE '%WriteData%' AND SubjectUserName NOT IN ('SYSTEM', 'Administrators')