CVE-2025-55317: Microsoft AutoUpdate (MAU) Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Overview

Severity
High (CVSS 7.8)
CVSS Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/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
Unlikely
Patch Tuesday
2025-Sep
Released
2025-09-09
EPSS Score
0.09% (percentile: 25.4%)

Description

Improper link resolution before file access ('link following') in Microsoft AutoUpdate (MAU) allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.

FAQ

What privileges could be gained by an attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability? An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability could elevate their privileges to perform commands as Root in the target environment. How could an attacker exploit this vulnerability? A user can download an installer and before the user runs the installer, the attacker could replace it with a malicious installer. When the victim runs the malicious installer the attacker could elevate their privileges.

Affected Products (1)

Microsoft Office

  • Microsoft AutoUpdate for Mac

Security Updates (1)

Revision History

  • 2025-09-09: Information published.