CVE-2025-27725
📋 TL;DR
A time-of-check time-of-use (TOCTOU) race condition vulnerability in ACAT software before version 3.13 allows authenticated local users to potentially cause denial of service. This affects unprivileged software adversaries who can exploit the race condition through complex local attacks requiring user interaction. The vulnerability impacts availability but not confidentiality or integrity.
💻 Affected Systems
- ACAT (Assistive Context-Aware Toolkit)
⚠️ Manual Verification Required
This CVE does not have specific version information in our database, so automatic vulnerability detection cannot determine if your system is affected.
Why? The CVE database entry doesn't specify which versions are vulnerable (no version ranges provided by the vendor/NVD).
🔒 Custom verification scripts are available for registered users. Sign up free to download automated test scripts.
- Review the CVE details at NVD
- Check vendor security advisories for your specific version
- Test if the vulnerability is exploitable in your environment
- Consider updating to the latest version as a precaution
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Successful exploitation could cause denial of service to ACAT components, potentially disrupting user applications that depend on them.
Likely Case
Limited denial of service affecting specific ACAT functionality, requiring specific local access and user interaction to trigger.
If Mitigated
Minimal impact with proper access controls and user awareness, as exploitation requires authenticated local access and user interaction.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires authenticated local access, user interaction, and is described as high complexity. No public exploit code is known.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 3.13
Vendor Advisory: https://intel.com/content/www/us/en/security-center/advisory/intel-sa-01388.html
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Download ACAT version 3.13 or later from official Intel sources. 2. Install the update following vendor instructions. 3. Restart affected systems to ensure the patch is fully applied.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Restrict local access
allLimit local access to systems running ACAT to trusted users only
User awareness training
allEducate users about not interacting with suspicious prompts or applications
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict access controls to limit which users can run ACAT applications
- Monitor for unusual system behavior or denial of service events related to ACAT components
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check ACAT version: If version is earlier than 3.13, the system is vulnerable.Check Version:
Check ACAT application properties or about dialog for version informationVerify Fix Applied:
Verify ACAT version is 3.13 or later after applying the update.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Multiple rapid access attempts to ACAT resources
- Unexpected ACAT process termination or restart
Network Indicators:
- Local process communication anomalies
SIEM Query:
Process: (ACAT.exe OR acat) AND EventCode: (ProcessTerminate OR AccessDenied) WITHIN 1s