Overview
CVE-2025-55693 is a local Elevation of Privilege (EoP) vulnerability in the Windows Kernel, caused by a use-after-free race condition in kernel code. An attacker who can already run code as an unprivileged local user could exploit this by winning the race condition, which could crash the system (Denial of Service) or, if the exploit succeeds, escalate their privileges to SYSTEM. This flaw was addressed by Microsoft in its October 2025 Patch Tuesday updates, which users should apply to mitigate the risk.
TECHNICAL DETAILS
- Type: Use-after-free / race condition in the Windows kernel leading to local EoP.
- Attack vector: Local only requires code execution or an authenticated local account on the target Windows host. Not a network-remote RCE by itself.
- Initial Access: Attacker obtains the ability to run code locally as a non-privileged user (phishing, compromised endpoint, malicious….
