{"id":64150,"date":"2025-08-18T18:49:26","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T18:49:26","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-10-02T17:20:27","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T23:20:27","slug":"cve-2025-49667-critical-windows-win32k-vulnerability-allowing-privilege-elevation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-49667-critical-windows-win32k-vulnerability-allowing-privilege-elevation\/","title":{"rendered":"<strong>CVE-2025-49667: Critical Windows Win32K Vulnerability Allowing Privilege Elevation<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>CVE-2025-49667 is a critical security vulnerability that resides in the Windows Win32K component, specifically the ICOMP function. This vulnerability has a significant impact on the Windows operating system, affecting a wide range of versions. If exploited, it allows an authorized attacker to elevate their privilege locally which could <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-49691-heap-based-buffer-overflow-in-windows-media-leading-to-potential-system-compromise\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"72168\">lead to system<\/a> compromise or data leakage. Given the high <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-53546-high-severity-vulnerability-in-folo-s-github-workflow\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"73417\">severity of this vulnerability<\/a> and its potential ramifications, it is of utmost importance for organizations and individuals to understand how it works and how to mitigate it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Vulnerability Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>CVE ID: CVE-2025-49667<br \/>\nSeverity: High 7.8<br \/>\nAttack Vector: Local<br \/>\nPrivileges Required: Low<br \/>\nUser Interaction: Required<br \/>\nImpact: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-50160-heap-based-buffer-overflow-in-windows-rras-posing-system-compromise-risk\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"78483\">System compromise<\/a> or data leakage<\/p>\n<p><strong>Affected Products<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"ameeb-3072159757\" class=\"ameeb-content-2 ameeb-entity-placement\"><div style=\"border-left: 4px solid #555; padding-left: 20px; margin: 48px 0; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; color: #ffffff; line-height: 1.6; max-width: 720px;\">\r\n  <h2 style=\"margin-top: 0; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 600; display: flex; align-items: center; letter-spacing: -0.02em;\">\r\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/chat\" style=\"display: inline-flex; align-items: center; margin-right: 10px;\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Best-App-icon-Ameeba.png\" alt=\"Ameeba Chat Icon\" style=\"width: 42px; height: 42px;\" \/>\r\n    <\/a>\r\n    Share secrets securely\r\n  <\/h2>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"margin-bottom: 14px; color: #d1d5db;\">\r\n    Ameeba is private infrastructure for communication and sensitive work built on encrypted identity instead of exposed corporate identity systems.\r\n  <\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"margin-bottom: 18px; color: #a1a1aa;\">\r\n    Passwords, credentials, confidential files, screenshots, internal discussions, sensitive AI context, and private coordination should not become exposed across ordinary communication platforms.\r\n  <\/p>\r\n\r\n  <ul style=\"list-style: none; padding-left: 0; margin-bottom: 24px; color: #e4e4e7;\">\r\n    <li style=\"margin-bottom: 8px;\">\u2022 Encrypted identity<\/li>\r\n    <li style=\"margin-bottom: 8px;\">\u2022 Private Spaces for organizations and teams<\/li>\r\n    <li style=\"margin-bottom: 8px;\">\u2022 End-to-end encrypted chat, calls, files, and notes<\/li>\r\n    <li style=\"margin-bottom: 8px;\">\u2022 Sensitive AI work and protected collaboration<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 Built for information that cannot leak<\/li>\r\n  <\/ul>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"font-style: italic; font-weight: 600; margin-bottom: 24px; color: #ffffff;\">\r\n    Our mission is to secure human work alongside AI.\r\n  <\/p>\r\n\r\n  <div style=\"display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; gap: 12px;\">\r\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/chat\/download\" style=\"background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; padding: 10px 20px; text-decoration: none; border-radius: 8px; font-weight: 500;\">\r\n      Download Ameeba\r\n    <\/a>\r\n\r\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/chat\" style=\"border: 1px solid #ffffff; color: #ffffff; padding: 10px 20px; text-decoration: none; border-radius: 8px; font-weight: 500;\">\r\n      Learn More\r\n    <\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Product | Affected Versions<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-8088-path-traversal-vulnerability-in-windows-version-of-winrar\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"78656\">Windows 10 | All versions<\/a><br \/>\nWindows Server 2016 | All versions<\/p>\n<p><strong>How the Exploit Works<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The exploit takes advantage of a double free <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-33075-a-critical-windows-installer-vulnerability-that-leads-to-privilege-elevation\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"72337\">vulnerability in the ICOMP function of the Windows<\/a> Win32K component. A double free <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-43193-critical-memory-handling-vulnerability-in-macos\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"71680\">vulnerability occurs when the application frees the same memory<\/a> location twice. This can lead to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-27031-memory-corruption-via-ioctl-commands-processing\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"71597\">corruption of the memory<\/a> management structures and could allow an attacker to modify arbitrary memory locations or execute arbitrary code. In this case, an attacker who has already gained authorized access to the system can run a specially crafted program to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-53762-privilege-elevation-vulnerability-in-microsoft-purview\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"72907\">elevate their privileges<\/a> locally.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conceptual Example Code<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"ameeb-2389353052\" class=\"ameeb-content ameeb-entity-placement\"><div class=\"poptin-embedded\" data-id=\"f6b387694f681\"><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<\/div>\n<p>The vulnerability might be exploited using a program like this:<\/p>\n<pre><code class=\"\" data-line=\"\">using System;\nusing System.Runtime.InteropServices;\nclass Program\n{\n[DllImport(&quot;kernel32.dll&quot;)]\nstatic extern bool FreeLibrary(IntPtr hModule);\nstatic void Main()\n{\nIntPtr hModule = LoadLibrary(&quot;win32k.sys&quot;);\n\/\/ First free\nFreeLibrary(hModule);\n\/\/ Perform other operations...\n\/\/ Second free\nFreeLibrary(hModule);\n\/\/ Execute code with elevated privileges...\n}\n}<\/code><\/pre>\n<p>In the above example, the attacker loads the win32k.sys library and then frees it twice. After the second free, the memory management structures are corrupted, and the attacker can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-30327-integer-overflow-vulnerability-in-incopy-leading-to-potential-arbitrary-code-execution\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"73676\">potentially execute code<\/a> with elevated privileges.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mitigation<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The best way to prevent exploitation of this vulnerability is to apply the patch provided by the vendor as soon as possible. If the patch cannot be applied immediately, a temporary mitigation can be to use a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or an Intrusion Detection System (IDS). These systems can be configured to monitor and block suspicious activities that might indicate an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-46414-unlimited-pin-attempts-vulnerability-in-api\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"81229\">attempt to exploit this vulnerability<\/a>. However, these are only temporary solutions and may not completely <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2024-36326-bypassing-amd-romarmor-protections-to-compromise-system-security\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"87884\">protect the system<\/a>. Therefore, applying the vendor&#8217;s patch should be the ultimate goal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Overview CVE-2025-49667 is a critical security vulnerability that resides in the Windows Win32K component, specifically the ICOMP function. This vulnerability has a significant impact on the Windows operating system, affecting a wide range of versions. If exploited, it allows an authorized attacker to elevate their privilege locally which could lead to system compromise or data [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"vendor":[82],"product":[],"attack_vector":[76],"asset_type":[],"severity":[],"exploit_status":[],"class_list":["post-64150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","vendor-microsoft","attack_vector-privilege-escalation"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64150"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64150\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80698,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64150\/revisions\/80698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64150"},{"taxonomy":"vendor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vendor?post=64150"},{"taxonomy":"product","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product?post=64150"},{"taxonomy":"attack_vector","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/attack_vector?post=64150"},{"taxonomy":"asset_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/asset_type?post=64150"},{"taxonomy":"severity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/severity?post=64150"},{"taxonomy":"exploit_status","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/exploit_status?post=64150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}