{"id":79397,"date":"2025-10-01T09:27:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T09:27:07","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-10-28T12:32:42","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T18:32:42","slug":"cve-2025-53141-null-pointer-dereference-in-windows-ancillary-function-driver-for-winsock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-53141-null-pointer-dereference-in-windows-ancillary-function-driver-for-winsock\/","title":{"rendered":"<strong>CVE-2025-53141: Null Pointer Dereference in Windows Ancillary Function Driver for WinSock<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The vulnerability in focus, CVE-2025-53141, is a serious security flaw found in the Windows Ancillary Function Driver for WinSock (AFD). The AFD is a crucial part of the Windows networking subsystem, allowing applications to access network services. This <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-57052-cjson-out-of-bounds-access-vulnerability-and-mitigation\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"86829\">vulnerability enables an attacker who has already gained restricted access<\/a> to the system to escalate their privileges, potentially leading to system compromise or data leakage. This vulnerability matters because of the wide prevalence of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-26210-deepseek-xss-vulnerability-allows-potential-system-compromise\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"86690\">Windows<\/a> systems across the globe and the potential for significant damage if exploited.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Vulnerability Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>CVE ID: CVE-2025-53141<br \/>\nSeverity: High (7.8)<br \/>\nAttack Vector: Local<br \/>\nPrivileges Required: Low<br \/>\nUser Interaction: None<br \/>\nImpact: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-49401-critical-deserialization-of-untrusted-data-vulnerability-in-expresstech-systems-quiz-and-survey-master\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"87198\">System compromise or data<\/a> leakage<\/p>\n<p><strong>Affected Products<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"ameeb-3680931322\" 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: 700px;\">\r\n  <h2 style=\"margin-top: 0; font-size: 20px; font-weight: 600; display: flex; align-items: center;\">\r\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/chat\" style=\"display: inline-flex; align-items: center; margin-right: 8px;\">\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: 40px; height: 40px;\" \/>\r\n    <\/a>\r\n    A new way to communicate\r\n  <\/h2>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"margin-bottom: 12px;\">\r\n    Ameeba Chat is built on encrypted identity, not personal profiles.\r\n  <\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"margin-bottom: 16px;\">\r\n    Message, call, share files, and coordinate with identities kept separate.\r\n  <\/p>\r\n\r\n  <ul style=\"list-style: none; padding-left: 0; margin-bottom: 20px;\">\r\n    <li>\u2022 Encrypted identity<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 Ameeba Chat authenticates access<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 Aliases and categories<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 End-to-end encrypted chat, calls, and files<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 Secure notes for sensitive information<\/li>\r\n  <\/ul>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"font-style: italic; font-weight: 600; margin-bottom: 24px;\">\r\n    Private communication, rethought.\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: 6px; font-weight: 500;\">Download Ameeba Chat<\/a>\r\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/chat\" style=\"border: 1px solid #ffffff; color: #ffffff; padding: 10px 20px; text-decoration: none; border-radius: 6px; font-weight: 500;\">Learn More<\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n<p>Product | Affected Versions<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-32709-critical-use-after-free-vulnerability-in-windows-ancillary-function-driver-for-winsock\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"91719\">Windows Ancillary Function Driver<\/a> for WinSock | All versions prior to the patch<\/p>\n<p><strong>How the Exploit Works<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>At its core, CVE-2025-53141 is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-58142-critical-null-pointer-dereference-vulnerability-in-viridian-code\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"89606\">null pointer dereference vulnerability<\/a>. This indicates that the Windows AFD is attempting to access memory using a pointer that hasn&#8217;t been properly initialized. In certain conditions, an attacker could manipulate this flaw to run <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-47099-heap-based-buffer-overflow-vulnerability-in-incopy-leading-to-arbitrary-code-execution\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"86814\">arbitrary code<\/a> in the kernel. This would provide the attacker with the same access level as the system&#8217;s kernel, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-48539-critical-out-of-bounds-read-in-acl-arbiter-cc-leading-to-potential-system-compromise\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"87345\">leading to a potential system<\/a> compromise or data leakage.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conceptual Example Code<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"ameeb-1708763978\" 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 following pseudocode <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-30330-heap-based-buffer-overflow-vulnerability-in-illustrator-versions-29-3-28-7-5-and-earlier\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"91710\">illustrates a conceptual exploitation of this vulnerability:<\/a><\/p>\n<pre><code class=\"\" data-line=\"\">\/\/ Initialization of the faulty pointer\nAFD_POINTER* faultyPointer = NULL;\n\/\/ Some code here...\n\/\/ The attacker manages to control the code flow here due to another vulnerability\ngoto faultyDereference;\n\/\/ Some code here...\n\/\/ The pointer is meant to be initialized here but the attacker&#039;s action bypasses it\nfaultyPointer = &amp;someObject;\nfaultyDereference:\n\/\/ Null pointer dereference happens here leading to undefined behavior which can be exploited\nfaultyPointer-&gt;operation();<\/code><\/pre>\n<p>It&#8217;s important to note that this is a simple representation of how an attacker could <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-47129-out-of-bounds-write-vulnerability-in-adobe-framemaker-with-potential-for-arbitrary-code-execution\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"86908\">potentially exploit this vulnerability<\/a>. The actual exploitation would likely be more complex and require a deep understanding of Windows internals.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Recommended Mitigation<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The mitigation guidance for this vulnerability is to apply the patch provided by the vendor. Until the patch can be applied, a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can be used as temporary mitigation. These systems can detect and block <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-1740-excessive-authentication-attempts-vulnerability-in-akinsoft-myrezzta\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"86767\">attempts to exploit this vulnerability<\/a>, providing a stop-gap measure until a more permanent solution can be implemented.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Overview The vulnerability in focus, CVE-2025-53141, is a serious security flaw found in the Windows Ancillary Function Driver for WinSock (AFD). The AFD is a crucial part of the Windows networking subsystem, allowing applications to access network services. This vulnerability enables an attacker who has already gained restricted access to the system to escalate their [&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":[88,82],"product":[95],"attack_vector":[],"asset_type":[],"severity":[],"exploit_status":[],"class_list":["post-79397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","vendor-linux","vendor-microsoft","product-linux-kernel"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79397","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=79397"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79397\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84890,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79397\/revisions\/84890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79397"},{"taxonomy":"vendor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vendor?post=79397"},{"taxonomy":"product","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product?post=79397"},{"taxonomy":"attack_vector","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/attack_vector?post=79397"},{"taxonomy":"asset_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/asset_type?post=79397"},{"taxonomy":"severity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/severity?post=79397"},{"taxonomy":"exploit_status","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/exploit_status?post=79397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}