CVE-2025-6033
📋 TL;DR
A memory corruption vulnerability in NI Circuit Design Suite's SymbolEditor allows attackers to execute arbitrary code or disclose information by tricking users into opening malicious .sym files. This affects all users of NI Circuit Design Suite 14.3.1 and earlier versions who open untrusted symbol files.
💻 Affected Systems
- NI Circuit Design Suite
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Full system compromise with attacker gaining the same privileges as the user running the software, potentially leading to data theft, ransomware deployment, or lateral movement.
Likely Case
Arbitrary code execution within the user's context, allowing file system access, credential harvesting, and installation of persistence mechanisms.
If Mitigated
Limited impact if user runs with minimal privileges, has application sandboxing, and doesn't open untrusted files.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction (opening malicious file) and knowledge of memory corruption techniques.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: NI Circuit Design Suite 14.3.2 or later
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Download latest version from NI website. 2. Run installer with administrative privileges. 3. Follow installation prompts. 4. Restart system after installation completes.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable .sym file association
windowsRemove file association so .sym files don't automatically open with vulnerable software
Control Panel > Default Programs > Associate a file type or protocol with a program > Select .sym > Change program > Choose different application
User awareness training
allTrain users to never open .sym files from untrusted sources
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Restrict user privileges to prevent system-wide compromise if exploited
- Implement application whitelisting to block execution of unauthorized binaries
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check NI Circuit Design Suite version in Help > About. If version is 14.3.1 or earlier, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
Not applicable - check via GUI Help > About menuVerify Fix Applied:
Verify version is 14.3.2 or later in Help > About menu.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Process creation events for NI Circuit Design Suite with suspicious command-line arguments
- File access events for .sym files from untrusted locations
Network Indicators:
- Unusual outbound connections from NI Circuit Design Suite process
SIEM Query:
Process creation where (Image contains 'Circuit Design' OR ParentImage contains 'Circuit Design') AND CommandLine contains '.sym'