CVE-2025-12053
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 · uneditedThe drivers in the tool packages use RTL_QUERY_REGISTRY_DIRECT flag to read a registry value to which an untrusted user-mode application may be able to cause a buffer overflow.
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 · moderate confidenceA kernel-mode driver vulnerability exists where the RTL_QUERY_REGISTRY_DIRECT flag is used to read registry values without proper buffer size validation. An untrusted user-mode application can exploit this to trigger a buffer overflow, potentially achieving privilege escalation from user mode to kernel mode.
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.
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Identify kernel-mode drivers using RTL_QUERY_REGISTRY_DIRECTSearch driver files (.sys) in system directories (C:\Windows\System32\drivers) for the vulnerable registry function pattern. Use strings or a disassembler to scan for 'RTL_QUERY_REGISTRY_DIRECT' references if analyzing drivers directly.Affected if A kernel driver present on the system uses RTL_QUERY_REGISTRY_DIRECT and lacks proper buffer size validation for registry reads.
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Determine if driver interfaces are exposed to untrusted user applicationsCheck driver device objects and their security descriptors using tools like 'winobj' or 'accesschk' from Sysinternals. Look for device paths under \Device\ that are accessible to low-privileged users or Everyone group.Affected if The vulnerable driver interface can be opened or communicated with by untrusted (non-admin) user-mode applications.
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Review driver file version and signing statusRight-click each suspicious .sys driver file, select Properties, and note the File Version and Digital Signature tabs. Compare against any vendor-released patched versions if available.Affected if The driver version is older than the patched version, or the driver is not digitally signed by a trusted publisher.
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Audit registry permissions on keys accessed by the driverUse regedit to check permissions on registry keys typically accessed by the affected driver. Look for entries under HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services for the driver service and its ImagePath.Affected if Untrusted users have write or full control permissions on registry keys that the vulnerable driver reads without bounds checking.
Your system is affected if a kernel-mode driver using RTL_QUERY_REGISTRY_DIRECT is present, lacks buffer validation, and is accessible to untrusted user-mode applications for interaction.
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 dataApply vendor-provided patches or updates to the affected tool package drivers. If patches are unavailable, restrict or monitor untrusted user-mode application access to the affected driver interfaces.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-12053 — 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-2025-12053 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
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- 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
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