CVE-2025-24983: 
vulnerability analysis and mitigation

CVE-2025-24983 is a use-after-free vulnerability in the Windows Win32 Kernel Subsystem that allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally. The vulnerability was discovered in March 2023 and publicly disclosed on March 11, 2025. It affects various Windows versions, including Windows 8.1, Server 2012 R2, Windows 10 build 1809, and Windows Server 2016 (NVD, Krebs).

The vulnerability is characterized by a use-after-free condition in the Win32k driver. The exploit scenario involves the WaitForInputIdle API, where the W32PROCESS structure gets dereferenced one more time than it should, causing a use-after-free condition. To successfully exploit the vulnerability, a race condition must be won. The vulnerability has been assigned a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.0 (HIGH) with the vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H (Hacker News).

When successfully exploited, this vulnerability allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally on affected systems. The vulnerability has been actively exploited in the wild, particularly targeting older versions of Windows OS, including Windows 8.1 and Server 2012 R2, though newer versions through Windows Server 2016 are also vulnerable (Krebs).

Microsoft has released security updates to address this vulnerability as part of its March 2025 Patch Tuesday. CISA has added this vulnerability to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, requiring federal agencies to apply the fixes by April 1, 2025. Organizations are strongly urged to prioritize the timely remediation of this vulnerability as part of their vulnerability management practice (CISA).