CVE-2025-24039
📋 TL;DR
This CVE describes an elevation of privilege vulnerability in Visual Studio Code where an attacker could execute arbitrary code with higher privileges than intended. It affects users running Visual Studio Code on Windows systems. The vulnerability stems from improper handling of DLL loading paths (CWE-427).
💻 Affected Systems
- Visual Studio Code
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
An attacker could gain SYSTEM-level privileges on the affected Windows machine, potentially leading to complete system compromise, data theft, or installation of persistent malware.
Likely Case
Local authenticated attackers could escalate privileges to install software, modify system settings, or access restricted files and directories they shouldn't normally access.
If Mitigated
With proper user account controls and limited privileges, impact would be contained to the user's context rather than full system compromise.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires local access and some user interaction or specific conditions. No public exploits are currently available.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Visual Studio Code 1.95.0 and later
Vendor Advisory: https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2025-24039
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Open Visual Studio Code. 2. Click on Help menu. 3. Select Check for Updates. 4. Install update to version 1.95.0 or later. 5. Alternatively, download latest version from https://code.visualstudio.com/download
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Restrict DLL loading paths
windowsConfigure Windows to restrict DLL loading from untrusted locations using Group Policy or registry settings
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Run Visual Studio Code with least privilege accounts (non-admin)
- Implement application whitelisting to prevent unauthorized DLL loading
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Visual Studio Code version: Open VS Code, go to Help > About. If version is below 1.95.0, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
code --versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify version is 1.95.0 or higher in Help > About menu.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Windows Event Logs showing unexpected DLL loading from unusual paths
- Process creation events showing VS Code spawning elevated processes
Network Indicators:
- No specific network indicators as this is local privilege escalation
SIEM Query:
Process Creation where (Image contains 'code.exe' OR ParentImage contains 'code.exe') AND IntegrityLevel changed