CVE-2025-59295: Windows URL Parsing Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Overview

Severity: High (CVSS 8.8)
CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C
Category: Remote Code Execution
Exploit Status: Not Exploited
Exploitation Likelihood: Less Likely
Patch Tuesday: 2025-Oct
Released: 2025-10-14
Last Updated: 2025-10-23
EPSS Score: 0.41% (percentile: 61.4%)

Description

Heap-based buffer overflow in Internet Explorer allows an unauthorized attacker to execute code over a network.

FAQ

According to the CVSS metric, user interaction is required (UI:R). What interaction would the user have to do? The user would have to click a specially crafted button for the attacker to successfully exploit the vulnerability. According to the CVSS metric, the attack vector is network (AV:N) and user interaction is required (UI:R). What is the target context of the remote code execution? This attack requires a user to open a specially crafted file from the attacker to initiate remote code execution. How could an attacker exploit this vulnerability? An attacker could exploit this vulnerability within the Workstation Service component to cause arbitrary memory write or control flow hijacking, resulting in privilege escalation. This could potentially allow the attacker to execute code with elevated privileges, compromising the security of the system. The Security Updates table indicates that this vulnerability affects all supported versions of Microsoft Windows. Why are IE Cumulative updates listed for Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2012 R2? While Microsoft has announced retirement of the Internet Explorer 11 application on certain platforms and the Microsoft Edge Legacy application is deprecated, the underlying MSHTML, EdgeHTML, and scripting platforms are still supported. The MSHTML platform is used by Internet Explorer mode in Microsoft Edge as well as other applications through WebBrowser control. The EdgeHTML platform is used by WebView and some UWP applications. The scripting platforms are used by MSHTML and EdgeHTML but can also be used by other legacy applications. Updates to address vulnerabilities in the MSHTML platform and scripting engine are included in the IE Cumulative Updates; EdgeHTML and Chakra changes are not applicable to those platforms. To stay fully protected, we recommend that customers who install Security Only updates install the IE Cumulative updates for this vulnerability.

Affected Products (39)

Windows

Windows 11 Version 25H2 for ARM64-based Systems
Windows 11 Version 25H2 for x64-based Systems
Windows 10 Version 1809 for 32-bit Systems
Windows 10 Version 1809 for x64-based Systems
Windows Server 2019
Windows Server 2019 (Server Core installation)
Windows Server 2022
Windows Server 2022 (Server Core installation)
Windows 10 Version 21H2 for 32-bit Systems
Windows 10 Version 21H2 for ARM64-based Systems
Windows 10 Version 21H2 for x64-based Systems
Windows Server 2025 (Server Core installation)
Windows 11 Version 23H2 for ARM64-based Systems
Windows 11 Version 23H2 for x64-based Systems
Windows Server 2022, 23H2 Edition (Server Core installation)
Windows 11 Version 24H2 for ARM64-based Systems
Windows 11 Version 24H2 for x64-based Systems
Windows Server 2025
Windows 10 for 32-bit Systems
Windows 10 for x64-based Systems
Windows 10 Version 1607 for 32-bit Systems
Windows 10 Version 1607 for x64-based Systems
Windows Server 2016
Windows Server 2016 (Server Core installation)

ESU

Windows 11 Version 22H2 for ARM64-based Systems
Windows 11 Version 22H2 for x64-based Systems
Windows 10 Version 22H2 for x64-based Systems
Windows 10 Version 22H2 for ARM64-based Systems
Windows 10 Version 22H2 for 32-bit Systems
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 (15)

Acknowledgments

Revision History

2025-10-14: Information published.
2025-10-23: Added an acknowledgement. This is an informational change only.