CVE-2025-53726
📋 TL;DR
This is a type confusion vulnerability in Windows Push Notifications that allows an authenticated attacker to escalate privileges on a local system. Attackers can gain higher privileges than they should have, potentially compromising the entire system. Only Windows systems with the vulnerable component are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Windows Push Notifications
📦 What is this software?
Windows 10 1507 by Microsoft
Windows 10 1507 by Microsoft
Windows 10 1607 by Microsoft
Windows 10 1607 by Microsoft
Windows 10 1809 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-level privileges, enabling installation of malware, data theft, and persistence mechanisms.
Likely Case
Local privilege escalation from standard user to administrator or SYSTEM privileges, allowing attackers to bypass security controls and access sensitive data.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper privilege separation and endpoint protection that detects privilege escalation attempts.
🎯 Exploit Status
Requires authenticated access and knowledge of the type confusion condition. No public exploit code is available at this time.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Check Microsoft's monthly security updates for the specific KB number
Vendor Advisory: https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2025-53726
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Open Windows Update settings. 2. Check for updates. 3. Install all available security updates. 4. Restart the system when prompted.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable Windows Push Notifications Service
windowsTemporarily disable the vulnerable service to prevent exploitation
sc config WpnService start= disabled
sc stop WpnService
Apply Least Privilege Principle
allEnsure users operate with minimal necessary privileges to limit impact
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict access controls and monitor for privilege escalation attempts
- Deploy endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions to detect suspicious behavior
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Windows Update history for the specific KB patch mentioned in Microsoft's advisoryCheck Version:
systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"Verify Fix Applied:
Verify the patch is installed via 'Get-Hotfix -Id KBxxxxxxx' in PowerShell or check Windows Update history📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Event ID 4688 with suspicious process creation
- Unexpected privilege escalation events in security logs
- WpnService service manipulation attempts
Network Indicators:
- None - this is a local privilege escalation vulnerability
SIEM Query:
EventID=4688 AND (NewProcessName="*\cmd.exe" OR NewProcessName="*\powershell.exe") AND SubjectUserName!="SYSTEM" AND TokenElevationType="%%1937"