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Actively exploited vulnerability

Microsoft Windows: file access flaw under attack

CVE-2025-33053 · Microsoft Windows External Control of File Name or Path Vulnerability

Concerns everyone who uses it8.8 high

What is affected

Microsoft Windows is found on ordinary personal computers and phones, so this is not only a problem for companies. If you use it and have not updated since the fix was released, you are exposed.

Microsoft Windows contains an external control of file name or path vulnerability that could allow an attacker to execute code from a remote WebDAV location specified by the WorkingDirectory attribute of Internet Shortcut files.

CISA's description

What an attacker can do

This is a file access flaw. It lets an attacker read or write files they should never reach, such as configuration files that hold passwords, or upload a malicious file that the system then runs.

How it is reached
Over the internet or network
Access the attacker needs
No account needed
Does the victim have to do something?
Yes, the victim must open or click something

What to do

  1. Update Microsoft Windows now. Open the update or "About" screen, install whatever is offered and restart the app or device, because the fix is not active until you do.
  2. Turn on automatic updates so the next fix arrives without you having to look for it.
  3. If your device is too old to receive this update, stop using the affected app for anything sensitive and plan a replacement.

Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

Action required by CISA for US federal agencies

Vendor advisories and fixes

How urgent is it

CISA added this vulnerability to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on June 10, 2025, which means there is reliable evidence of attacks in the wild. US federal agencies must fix it by July 1, 2025, a deadline that has already passed. That deadline does not bind anyone else, but it shows how seriously the agency rates it.

The EPSS model estimates a 87% probability that this flaw will be exploited somewhere in the next 30 days. That is higher than 99.7% of all scored vulnerabilities.

Its CVSS severity score is 8.8 out of 10 (high), as recorded in the US National Vulnerability Database.

Technical description

External control of file name or path in Internet Shortcut Files allows an unauthorized attacker to execute code over a network.

NIST National Vulnerability Database
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