Patch Tuesday: Windows Kernel Privilege Escalation Flaw Puts Business Systems at Critical Risk
- Anup Ghosh
- Mar 31
- 2 min read
The Download
In the March 2025 Patch Tuesday release, Microsoft addressed 57 security flaws, including six actively exploited zero-day vulnerabilities. Among these, two Windows kernel critical vulnerabilities stand out due to their potential impact on businesses:
CVE-2025-24983 - Windows Win32 Kernel Subsystem Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability: This flaw allows local attackers to gain SYSTEM privileges by exploiting a race condition within the Win32 Kernel Subsystem. Successful exploitation grants attackers full control over the affected system, enabling them to install malicious software, modify data, and create new accounts with comprehensive user rights.
CVE-2025-24993 - Windows NTFS Remote Code Execution Vulnerability: This vulnerability involves a heap-based buffer overflow in the Windows NTFS driver. Attackers can exploit this flaw by convincing a user to mount a specially crafted Virtual Hard Disk (VHD), leading to remote code execution. Once exploited, attackers can execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges, potentially leading to data theft, system compromise, and further network infiltration.
While the details are technical, the impact is quite severe if exploited and warrants immediate patching.
What You Can Do
To protect against these vulnerabilities, IT administrators should take the following actions:
Apply Security Updates Promptly: Ensure that all systems are updated with the latest patches released in the March 2025 Patch Tuesday to mitigate these and other vulnerabilities.
Limit User Privileges: Restrict user permissions to the minimum necessary to reduce the potential impact of exploitation.
Educate Users: Train staff to recognize and avoid actions that could lead to exploitation, such as mounting untrusted VHD files.BleepingComputer
Implement Endpoint Protection: Deploy advanced endpoint detection and response solutions to identify and block exploit attempts.
By proactively addressing these vulnerabilities, organizations can enhance their security posture and reduce the risk of exploitation. Sign up for ThreatMate today to continuously monitor your networks attack surfaces.
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