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NVD / CVE Program· CNA microsoft

CVE-2025-29803: Visual Studio Tools for Applications and SQL Server Management Studio Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 29/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.76% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 55.7% of all records.
  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it. A low-privileged account is enough. A user must open a link or visit a page. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • Fixed version: SQL Server Management Studio 20.2 20.2.37.0; Visual Studio Tools for Applications (VSTA) 2019 16.0.35907.0; Visual Studio Tools for Applications (VSTA) 2022 17.0.35906.0.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to SQL Server Management Studio 20.2 20.2.37.0; Visual Studio Tools for Applications (VSTA) 2019 16.0.35907.0; Visual Studio Tools for Applications (VSTA) 2022 17.0.35906.0 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

Uncontrolled search path element in Visual Studio Tools for Applications and SQL Server Management Studio allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.

HighCVSS 7.3 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available
Published
Apr 11, 2025
Updated
Aug 10, 2026
EPSS
0.7% · 55th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

29

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
29 / 40 · 7.3 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.7%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
total

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
—
CNA · microsoft
7.3
NVD has not scored this yet; the score shown is the CNA’s.

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • No public exploit code on record
  • A fix has been released

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

Follow CVE-2025-29803

When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
microsoftsql server management studio
microsoftvisual studio tools for applications 2019
microsoftvisual studio tools for applications 2019 sdk
microsoftvisual studio tools for applications 2022
microsoftvisual studio tools for applications 2022 sdk

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • microsoft sql server management studiobefore 20.2.1
  • microsoft visual studio tools for applications 2019before 16.0.35907.0
  • microsoft visual studio tools for applications 2019 sdkbefore 16.0.35907.0
  • microsoft visual studio tools for applications 2022before 17.0.35906.0
  • microsoft visual studio tools for applications 2022 sdkbefore 17.0.35906.0

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (microsoft). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio 20.2

    • 20.0 and later · before 20.2.37.0affected

  • Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for Applications (VSTA)

    • 16.0 and later · before 16.0.35907.0affected
    • 17.0 and later · before 17.0.35906.0affected

  • Microsoft VSTA 2019 SDK

    • 16.0 and later · before 16.0.35907.0affected

  • Microsoft VSTA 2022 SDK

    • 17.0 and later · before 17.0.35906.0affected

Same product

microsoft: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2026-65669Microsoft SQL Server Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
    38Monitor
  • CVE-2018-8533An information disclosure vulnerability exists in Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) when parsing malicious XML content containin
    29Monitor
  • CVE-2018-8532An information disclosure vulnerability exists in Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) when parsing a malicious XMLA file containin
    29Monitor

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2019-1313Oct 10, 2019 · An information disclosure vulnerability exists in Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) when it improperly enforces permissions, aka
    28Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2019-1376Oct 10, 2019 · An information disclosure vulnerability exists in Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) when it improperly enforces permissions, aka
    28Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2020-1455Aug 17, 2020 · Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio Denial of Service Vulnerability
    21Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
SQL Server Management Studio 20.220.2.37.0 · Release NotesMicrosoft (MSRC)
Visual Studio Tools for Applications (VSTA) 201916.0.35907.0 · Release NotesMicrosoft (MSRC)
Visual Studio Tools for Applications (VSTA) 202217.0.35906.0 · Release NotesMicrosoft (MSRC)
VSTA 2019 SDK16.0.35907.0 · Release NotesMicrosoft (MSRC)
VSTA 2022 SDK17.0.35906.0 · Release NotesMicrosoft (MSRC)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

No history yet (it accumulates with the daily EPSS job).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it.
  • A low-privileged account is enough.
  • A user must open a link or visit a page.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
high · data can be read
Integrity
high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
High
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-427 · Uncontrolled Search Path Element

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

nvd-secondary

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →

References

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records