CISOs are urged to prioritize two actively exploited vulnerabilities in Windows as part of their February Patch Tuesday initiatives. The vulnerabilities in question are:
CVE 2025-21391: This pertains to a Windows Storage escalation of privilege vulnerability that could permit an attacker to delete files without being able to read them. While this does not compromise data confidentiality, it poses significant risks to data integrity and availability. The complexity required for such an attack is considered low.
CVE 2025-21418: This Windows Ancillary Function Driver for WinSock vulnerability results from a buffer overflow, allowing successful exploits to provide attackers with SYSTEM privileges. Notably, this impacts various Windows Server versions including 2008, 2012, 2016, 2019, 2022, and 2025. Experts highlight this vulnerability as more serious due to its severe ramifications, potentially allowing attackers to install programs or manipulate data.
According to Mike Walters of Action1, the ability for attackers to gain SYSTEM-level access could lead to severe security breaches, including data manipulation and unauthorized account creation. Tyler Reguly from Fortra echoed this sentiment, asserting that the WinSock vulnerability should be treated with utmost urgency given its active exploitation.
In addition to these, Walters also highlighted CVE-2025-21376, a zero-day remote code execution vulnerability in WinServer’s LDAP service. Although not yet exploited, its critical status warrants immediate attention due to the potential for an unauthenticated attacker to gain access over the network, possibly leading to a system compromise.
Further vulnerabilities noted for attention include several zero-day risks within Windows Hyper-V and a hash disclosure vulnerability in NTLM (CVE-2025-21377). While the latter hasn’t been actively exploited yet, it poses significant risk through potential pass-the-hash attacks that could jeopardize network security.
Effective patch management is essential, especially in organizations with varying capabilities. Larger, more mature departments generally employ rigorous testing and deployment strategies, while smaller teams often face challenges in timely patch installation. Reguly advises smaller organizations to assess their patch and vulnerability management tools to improve their response and protective measures.
Overall, the active threat landscape necessitates prompt action from security leaders to safeguard their systems against these vulnerabilities.
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