CVE-2025-0543
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedLocal privilege escalation in G DATA Security Client due to incorrect assignment of privileges to directories. This vulnerability allows a local, unprivileged attacker to escalate privileges on affected installations by placing an arbitrary executable in a globally writable directory resulting in execution by the SetupSVC.exe service in the context of SYSTEM.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceG DATA Security Client contains a local privilege escalation vulnerability where incorrect directory permissions allow an unprivileged attacker to place a malicious executable in a globally writable directory. The SetupSVC.exe service then executes this arbitrary file in SYSTEM context, granting the attacker elevated privileges.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Verify G DATA Security Client is installedCheck for the presence of G DATA Security Client software on the system via installed programs list, service list, or file system search for G DATA-related directoriesAffected if G DATA Security Client is present on the system
-
Locate the SetupSVC.exe serviceOpen Services (services.msc) or run 'sc queryall' in command prompt and search for a service related to SetupSVC, or search the file system for SetupSVC.exe in program directoriesAffected if SetupSVC.exe service exists and is configured on the system
-
Identify directories the service usesExamine the service configuration using 'sc qc SetupSVC' or check the service's binary path and any associated configuration files to determine which directories the service accessesAffected if The service has access to specific directories for executable files
-
Check directory permissions for world-writable accessRight-click on directories identified as used by the service, go to Properties > Security, and check for Users or Everyone group with Write or Full Control permissions; or use icacls <directory> from command promptAffected if Any directory the service uses for executable lookup is writable by unprivileged users (Users group has Write permission)
-
Verify service runs with elevated privilegesRun 'sc qc SetupSvc' and check the SERVICE_START_NAME, or view the service properties in services.msc to see the logon accountAffected if The service runs as SYSTEM, LocalSystem, or another privileged account
The system is affected if G DATA Security Client is installed with the SetupSVC.exe service running as a privileged account and having access to directories that unprivileged users can write to.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataRestrict write permissions on directories used by the SetupSVC.exe service to prevent unprivileged users from placing arbitrary executables. Validate and sign any executables run by the service before execution.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-0543 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-0543 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data