CVE-2025-50167
📋 TL;DR
A race condition vulnerability in Windows Hyper-V allows authenticated attackers to escalate privileges on the local system. This affects systems running Hyper-V with authorized user access. Attackers must already have some level of access to exploit this vulnerability.
💻 Affected Systems
- Windows Hyper-V
📦 What is this software?
Windows 10 1507 by Microsoft
Windows 10 1607 by Microsoft
Windows 10 1809 by Microsoft
Windows 10 21h2 by Microsoft
Windows 10 22h2 by Microsoft
Windows 11 22h2 by Microsoft
Windows 11 23h2 by Microsoft
Windows 11 24h2 by Microsoft
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete system compromise with SYSTEM/administrator privileges, enabling installation of malware, data theft, or lateral movement within the network.
Likely Case
Privilege escalation from standard user to administrator/SYSTEM level, allowing unauthorized access to sensitive resources and configuration changes.
If Mitigated
Limited impact due to proper access controls, monitoring, and minimal user privileges reducing attack surface.
🎯 Exploit Status
Requires local authenticated access and precise timing to trigger race condition. No public exploit code known at this time.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Check Microsoft Security Update Guide for specific KB numbers
Vendor Advisory: https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2025-50167
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Apply latest Windows security updates from Microsoft. 2. For Hyper-V hosts, install updates via Windows Update or WSUS. 3. Restart affected systems as required.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable Hyper-V if not required
windowsRemoves vulnerable component entirely if Hyper-V functionality is not needed
Disable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Hyper-V-All
Implement strict access controls
allLimit user access to Hyper-V hosts to only necessary administrators
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement principle of least privilege - ensure no standard users have access to Hyper-V hosts
- Enable enhanced monitoring and logging for privilege escalation attempts on Hyper-V systems
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check if Hyper-V is enabled and system has not applied the security patch for CVE-2025-50167Check Version:
systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"Verify Fix Applied:
Verify Windows Update history shows installation of relevant security update and system has been restarted📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Windows Security Event ID 4672 (Special privileges assigned to new logon)
- Unexpected privilege escalation events
- Hyper-V service anomalies
Network Indicators:
- Unusual administrative activity from non-admin accounts on Hyper-V hosts
SIEM Query:
EventID=4672 AND ProcessName="*hyperv*" OR CommandLine="*hyperv*"