CVE-2025-27740: Active Directory Certificate Services Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Overview

Severity
High (CVSS 8.8)
CVSS Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C
Category
Elevation of Privilege
Exploit Status
Not Exploited
Exploitation Likelihood
Less Likely
Patch Tuesday
2025-Apr
Released
2025-04-08
Last Updated
2025-04-10
EPSS Score
1.71% (percentile: 82.3%)

Description

Weak authentication in Windows Active Directory Certificate Services allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges over a network.

FAQ

How could an attacker exploit this vulnerability? An authenticated user could manipulate attributes on computer accounts they own or manage, and acquire a certificate from Active Directory Certificate Services that would allow elevation of privilege to those of domain administrator.

Affected Products (19)

Windows

  • Windows Server 2019
  • Windows Server 2019 (Server Core installation)
  • Windows Server 2022
  • Windows Server 2022 (Server Core installation)
  • Windows Server 2025 (Server Core installation)
  • Windows Server 2022, 23H2 Edition (Server Core installation)
  • Windows Server 2025
  • Windows Server 2016
  • Windows Server 2016 (Server Core installation)

ESU

  • Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2
  • Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2 (Server Core installation)
  • Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2
  • Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2 (Server Core installation)
  • Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1
  • Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1 (Server Core installation)
  • Windows Server 2012
  • Windows Server 2012 (Server Core installation)
  • Windows Server 2012 R2
  • Windows Server 2012 R2 (Server Core installation)

Security Updates (11)

Acknowledgments

Konstantin Ruhmann with <a href="https://www.vwfs.de/">Volkswagen Financial Services AG</a>, Konstantin Ruhmann with <a href="https://www.vwfs.de/">Volkswagen Financial Services AG</a>

Revision History

  • 2025-04-08: Information published.
  • 2025-04-10: Updated FAQ information. This is an informational change only.