CVE-2026-25185: Windows Shell Link Processing Spoofing Vulnerability

Overview

Severity
Medium (CVSS 5.3)
CVSS Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N/E:U/RL:O/RC:C
Category
Spoofing
Exploit Status
Not Exploited
Exploitation Likelihood
Less Likely
Patch Tuesday
2026-Mar
Released
2026-03-10
EPSS Score
0.10% (percentile: 26.7%)

Description

Exposure of sensitive information to an unauthorized actor in Windows Shell Link Processing allows an unauthorized attacker to perform spoofing over a network.

FAQ

According to the CVSS metrics, successful exploitation of this vulnerability could lead to some loss of confidentiality (C:L),but lead to no loss of availability (A:N) and integrity (I:N)? What does that mean for this vulnerability? An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could view some sensitive information (Confidentiality) but not all resources within the impacted component may be divulged to the attacker. The attacker cannot make changes to disclosed information (Integrity) or limit access to the resource (Availability).

Affected Products (31)

Windows

  • 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 25H2 for ARM64-based Systems
  • Windows 11 Version 25H2 for x64-based Systems
  • 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 Version 1607 for 32-bit Systems
  • Windows 10 Version 1607 for x64-based Systems
  • Windows Server 2016
  • Windows Server 2016 (Server Core installation)
  • Windows 11 Version 26H1 for ARM64-based Systems
  • Windows 11 version 26H1 for x64-based Systems

ESU

  • 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 2012
  • Windows Server 2012 (Server Core installation)
  • Windows Server 2012 R2
  • Windows Server 2012 R2 (Server Core installation)

Security Updates (12)

Acknowledgments

<a href="https://x.com/freefirex2">Christopher Paschen</a> with <a href="https://trustedsec.com/">TrustedSec</a>

Revision History

  • 2026-03-10: Information published.