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CVE-2025-9491· NVD / CVE Program· CNA zdi

Microsoft Windows LNK File UI Misrepresentation Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Microsoft Windows LNK File UI Misrepresentation Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of Microsoft Windows. User interaction is required to exploit this vulnerability in that the target must visit a malicious page or open a malicious file. The specific flaw exists within the handling of .LNK files. Crafted data in an .LNK file can cause hazardous content in the file to be invisible to a user who inspects the file via the Windows-provided user interface. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of the current user. Was ZDI-CAN-25373.

MediumCVSS 4.6 · v4.0—Proof of concept No fix recorded
Published
Aug 26, 2025
Updated
Jun 17, 2026
EPSS
73.0% · 99th percentile
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Report tools

JSON

Action score

40

Plan

Add it to your regular patch cycle.

CVSS
18 / 40 · 4.6 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
22 / 30 · 73.0%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
proof of concept
Automatable
no
Technical impact
partial

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
—
CNA · zdi
7.0
NVD has not scored this yet; the score shown is the CNA’s.

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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

Noroxi analysis

No Noroxi analysis for this record yet

We don't hand-write analysis for the hundreds of thousands of vulnerabilities in the database; that wouldn't be honest. For notable, high-impact vulnerabilities our team writes the mechanism, detection and remediation steps.

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Affected systems

VendorProduct
microsoftwindows 11 23h2

Affected versions

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

  • microsoft windows 11 23h210.0.22631.4169

Versions reported by the vendor

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

  • Microsoft Windows

    • 11 Enterprise 23H2 22631.4169 x64affected

Same product

microsoft: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2026-81963Windows Update Stack Elevation of Privilege VulnerabilityKEV
    61This week
  • CVE-2026-62815Microsoft QUIC Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
    39Monitor
  • CVE-2026-45657Windows Kernel Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
    39Monitor
  • CVE-2026-41096Windows DNS Client Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
    39Monitor
  • CVE-2026-40402Windows Hyper-V Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
    37Monitor
  • CVE-2026-80083Windows Hyper-V Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
    35Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

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

No fix version is recorded for this entry. Check the references for vendor advisories.

Exploit status

Proof of concept available

A public proof of concept or detection signature exists. Exploit knowledge is out there; don't delay patching.

Evidence

  • Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub ×1

Noroxi does not host or link to exploit code. Metasploit module names and Nuclei template ids are shown (names, not code); Exploit-DB entries and PoC repositories are given as counts only.

Public exploit evidence
SourceKindDate
Proof-of-concept repository on GitHubstars:182025-11-07

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.

  1. Published
  2. First PoC+72 d
  3. TodayOct 8, 2026+408 d
EPSS, last 120 days+5% in 7 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

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.
  • No account or password is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
Integrity
Availability
Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
A
Scope
X

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-451 · User Interface (UI) Misrepresentation of Critical Information

CVSS vector

CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

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

No changes recorded on tracked fields yet. Score, KEV, exploit maturity and fix status changes appear here.

References

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

All records