CVE-2025-54104
📋 TL;DR
A type confusion vulnerability in Windows Defender Firewall Service allows authenticated attackers to execute arbitrary code with elevated SYSTEM privileges. This affects Windows systems with the vulnerable firewall service component. Attackers must already have local access and some privileges to exploit this vulnerability.
💻 Affected Systems
- Windows Defender Firewall Service
📦 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
Full system compromise with SYSTEM privileges, enabling complete control over the affected system, data theft, and lateral movement capabilities.
Likely Case
Privilege escalation from a lower privileged account to SYSTEM, allowing installation of malware, persistence mechanisms, or credential harvesting.
If Mitigated
Limited impact if proper access controls and monitoring are in place, with potential detection of privilege escalation attempts.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires local access and some initial privileges. Type confusion vulnerabilities typically require specific memory manipulation techniques.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Check Microsoft Security Update Guide for specific patch versions
Vendor Advisory: https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2025-54104
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Open Windows Update settings. 2. Click 'Check for updates'. 3. Install all available security updates. 4. Verify the update installed successfully.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Restrict local access
allLimit local user accounts and implement strict access controls to reduce attack surface
Enable Windows Defender Exploit Protection
allConfigure exploit protection settings to mitigate memory corruption attacks
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict least privilege access controls and monitor for privilege escalation attempts
- Deploy application whitelisting to prevent execution of unauthorized binaries
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Windows Update history for missing security patches related to CVE-2025-54104Check Version:
systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"Verify Fix Applied:
Verify the security update is installed via Windows Update history or systeminfo command📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Windows Security Event ID 4688 with parent process as firewall service
- Unexpected privilege escalation events
- Firewall service crash or unexpected behavior
Network Indicators:
- Unusual outbound connections from firewall service
- Internal lateral movement attempts
SIEM Query:
EventID=4688 AND ParentProcessName="svchost.exe" AND CommandLine CONTAINS "mpssvc"