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Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP)

CVE-2025-59512 — Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Important CVSS 7.8 EPSS 0.02956 🔬 Patch diffed 2025-11 archive

Executive Summary

Improper access control in Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.

Overview

7.8
CVSS HIGH
Important
MS Severity
Not Exploited
MS Exploit Status
More Likely
MS Exploit Likelihood
Category Elevation of Privilege
Weakness CWE-284: Improper Access Control
Released Nov 11 2025
Last Updated Nov 11 2025
Publicly Disclosed No
CISA KEV Not Listed
Known Exploits None Known
EPSS Score 0.02956 — 0.85966 percentile
NVD CVSS 7.8 HIGH — matches MSRC

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
ATTACK VECTOR
Local
ATTACK COMPLEXITY
Low
PRIVILEGES REQUIRED
Low
USER INTERACTION
None
SCOPE
Unchanged
CONFIDENTIALITY
High
INTEGRITY
High
AVAILABILITY
High
EXPLOIT CODE MATURITY
Unproven
REMEDIATION LEVEL
Official Fix
REPORT CONFIDENCE
Confirmed
Temporal Score: 6.8

EPSS Score

0.02956
probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
0.85966 percentile - updated 2026-08-14
View on FIRST.org

Affected Products

21 affected products
Product KB Article Severity Impact Restart Required
Windows 10 Version 1607 for 32-bit Systems 5068864 (Security Update) Important Elevation of Privilege Yes
Windows 10 Version 1607 for x64-based Systems 5068864 (Security Update) Important Elevation of Privilege Yes
Windows 10 Version 1809 for 32-bit Systems 5068791 (Security Update) Important Elevation of Privilege Yes
Windows 10 Version 1809 for x64-based Systems 5068791 (Security Update) Important Elevation of Privilege Yes
Windows 10 Version 21H2 for 32-bit Systems 5068781 (Security Update) Important Elevation of Privilege Yes
Windows 10 Version 21H2 for ARM64-based Systems 5068781 (Security Update) Important Elevation of Privilege Yes
Windows 10 Version 21H2 for x64-based Systems 5068781 (Security Update) Important Elevation of Privilege Yes
Windows 10 Version 22H2 for 32-bit Systems 5068781 (Security Update) Important Elevation of Privilege Yes
Windows 10 Version 22H2 for ARM64-based Systems 5068781 (Security Update) Important Elevation of Privilege Yes
Windows 10 Version 22H2 for x64-based Systems 5068781 (Security Update) Important Elevation of Privilege Yes
Windows 11 Version 23H2 for ARM64-based Systems 5068865 (Security Update) Important Elevation of Privilege Yes
Windows 11 Version 23H2 for x64-based Systems 5068865 (Security Update) Important Elevation of Privilege Yes
Windows 11 Version 24H2 for ARM64-based Systems 5068861 (Security Update) 5068966 (Security Hotpatch Update) Important Elevation of Privilege 5066835 Base: 7.8 Temporal: 6.8 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 10.0.26100.7171 10.0.26100.7092 Yes None Windows 11 Version 24H2 for x64-based Systems 5068861 (Security Update) 5068966 (Security Hotpatch Update) Important Elevation of Privilege 5066835 Base: 7.8 Temporal: 6.8 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 10.0.26100.7171 10.0.26100.7092 Yes None Windows 11 Version 25H2 for ARM64-based Systems 5068861 (Security Update) 5068966 (Security Hotpatch Update) Important Elevation of Privilege 5066835 Base: 7.8 Temporal: 6.8 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 10.0.26200.7171 10.0.26200.7092 Yes None Windows 11 Version 25H2 for x64-based Systems 5068861 (Security Update) 5068966 (Security Hotpatch Update) Important Elevation of Privilege 5066835 Base: 7.8 Temporal: 6.8 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 10.0.26200.7171 10.0.26200.7092 Yes None Windows Server 2012 5068907 (Monthly Rollup) Important Elevation of Privilege Yes
Windows Server 2012 (Server Core installation) 5068907 (Monthly Rollup) Important Elevation of Privilege Yes
Windows Server 2012 R2 5068905 (Monthly Rollup) Important Elevation of Privilege Yes
Windows Server 2012 R2 (Server Core installation) 5068905 (Monthly Rollup) Important Elevation of Privilege Yes
Windows Server 2016 5068864 (Security Update) Important Elevation of Privilege Yes
Windows Server 2016 (Server Core installation) 5068864 (Security Update) Important Elevation of Privilege Yes
Windows Server 2019 5068791 (Security Update) Important Elevation of Privilege Yes
Windows Server 2019 (Server Core installation) 5068791 (Security Update) Important Elevation of Privilege Yes
Windows Server 2022 5068787 (Security Update) 5068840 (Security Hotpatch Update) Important Elevation of Privilege 5066782 Base: 7.8 Temporal: 6.8 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 10.0.20348.4405 10.0.20348.4346 Yes None Windows Server 2022 (Server Core installation) 5068787 (Security Update) 5068840 (Security Hotpatch Update) Important Elevation of Privilege 5066782 Base: 7.8 Temporal: 6.8 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 10.0.20348.4405 10.0.20348.4346 Yes None Windows Server 2022, 23H2 Edition (Server Core installation) 5068779 (Security Update) Important Elevation of Privilege Yes

Patches

7 patches
Article Type Restart
5068864 Security Update Yes
5068791 Security Update Yes
5068781 Security Update Yes
5068865 Security Update Yes
5068907 Monthly Rollup Yes
5068905 Monthly Rollup Yes
5068779 Security Update Yes

Patch Diff

ghidriff · wsqmcons.exe (KB5068861)

Registry-symlink local EoP (CWE-59/CWE-284) in wsqmcons.exe (Windows SQM/CEIP Consolidator), run as SYSTEM by the CEIP 'Consolidator' scheduled task. On startup it calls UnregisterPathForCommonUpload, which enumerates subkeys under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\SQMClient\CommonUploader\Paths and recursively deletes them with SHDeleteKeyW - without checking for registry symbolic links. Standard users can create a subkey under Paths (they own it), set its DACL, and plant a registry symlink inside it; SHDeleteKeyW follows the link and SYSTEM deletes an arbitrary protected HKLM key -> EoP/DoS. IN-HOUSE ghidriff of wsqmcons.exe 10.0.19041.5794 -> .6575 (Nov 11 2025) confirms the fix: UnregisterPathForCommonUpload (87% match) gains a Feature_1207474488 gate around the RegOpenKeyExW/SHDeleteKeyW path (open without following links / validate before delete). Credit: t0zhang.

Pre-patch version 10.0.19041.5794 Download
Post-patch version 10.0.19041.6575 Download
Function Address Change Note
UnregisterPathForCommonUpload 87% match code (symlink-safe delete, CFR-gated) Pre: RegOpenKeyExW then SHDeleteKeyW recursively on SQMClient\CommonUploader\Paths subkeys with no symlink check. Post: gains a wil Feature_1207474488 __private_IsEnabled gate that changes the open/delete so attacker registry symlinks under Paths are not followed by the SYSTEM delete.
Feature_1207474488 gate added (CFR gate) Controlled Feature Rollout flag gating the symlink-safe registry delete.
View full diff report View RCA report

Attack Path

SYSTEM Consolidator recursively deletes SQM 'Paths' subkeys following a user-planted registry symlink

Attack path for CVE-2025-59512 SYSTEM Consolidator recursively deletes SQM 'Paths' subkeys following a user-planted registry symlink 01 — ENTRY CEIP 'Consolidator' scheduled task runs wsqmcons.exe as SYSTEM wsqmcons.exe (SQM/CEIP consolidator) runs as NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM and on startup cleans up SQM upload paths via UnregisterPathForCommonUpload. 02 — CONTROLLED INPUT Standard user pre-creates a subkey + registry symlink under SQMClient\CommonUploader\Paths Users have create-subkey rights under Paths; as owner of the new subkey they set its DACL to full control and create a REG_OPTION_CREATE_LINK symlink pointing at a protected HKLM key. 03 — PATH UnregisterPathForCommonUpload enumerates Paths subkeys and calls SHDeleteKeyW recursively It opens each subkey with RegOpenKeyExW and recursively deletes it with SHDeleteKeyW. 04 — MISSING CHECK No registry-symlink validation before the recursive delete SHDeleteKeyW follows the attacker-planted symlink out of Paths to its target (CWE-59). 05 — PRIMITIVE SYSTEM deletes an arbitrary protected HKLM key -> EoP / DoS The SYSTEM delete follows the link and removes a key the user could not touch (PoC: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\.ai), enabling EoP or denial of service. The Nov 2025 fix gates a symlink-safe delete behind Feature_1207474488.

Derived from the patch delta: the checks added by the vendor identify which fields crossed a trust boundary unvalidated. Reachability and privilege are taken from the call chain in the RCA report.

Known Exploits

Acknowledgments

T0

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