CVE-2025-50176: 
vulnerability analysis and mitigation

CVE-2025-50176 is a Critical remote code execution vulnerability affecting DirectX Graphics Kernel, discovered and disclosed on August 12, 2025. The vulnerability affects multiple versions of Microsoft Windows systems including Windows 11 and Windows Server 2022/2025. This type confusion vulnerability in the Graphics Kernel component allows authorized attackers with low privileges to execute code locally (NVD).

The vulnerability has been assigned a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8 (HIGH) with the following vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. The vulnerability stems from access of resource using incompatible type ('type confusion') combined with a heap-based buffer overflow in the Graphics Kernel. It is classified under CWE-843 (Access of Resource Using Incompatible Type) and CWE-122 (Heap-based Buffer Overflow) (NVD).

When successfully exploited, this vulnerability can lead to full system compromise with high impact to confidentiality, integrity, and availability of affected systems through arbitrary code execution on the local machine. The attack requires local access to the system, with any authenticated user being able to trigger the vulnerability without requiring administrative privileges (CrowdStrike).

Microsoft has released an official fix for this vulnerability as part of the August 2025 Patch Tuesday updates. The fix addresses the type confusion and heap-based buffer overflow issues in the Graphics Kernel. Affected systems should be updated to the latest available versions (NVD).