Link Following (Symlink)Weakness · CWE-59

CVE-2025-13154

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-01-14
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click

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 · unedited
An improper link following vulnerability was reported in the SmartPerformanceAddin for Lenovo Vantage that could allow an authenticated local user to perform an arbitrary file deletion with elevated privileges.

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 confidence

An improper link following (symlink) vulnerability in the SmartPerformanceAddin component of Lenovo Vantage allows an authenticated local user to manipulate the application into following symbolic links to delete arbitrary files with elevated (system) privileges. This is a local privilege escalation issue requiring prior authentication.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied patch/update for Lenovo Vantage when available. Until then, restrict local user privileges, monitor for suspicious file operations in the Lenovo Vantage directories, and consider disabling the SmartPerformanceAddin if not required.

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
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify Lenovo Vantage installation
    Check for Lenovo Vantage in the system. On Windows, look in Program Files or AppData folders for 'Lenovo Vantage' or run 'Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* | Where-Object {$_.DisplayName -like "*Lenovo Vantage*"}'
    Affected if Lenovo Vantage is installed on the system
  2. Locate SmartPerformanceAddin component
    Search for the SmartPerformanceAddin component within the Lenovo Vantage installation directory. Common paths include the main Vantage folder under Program Files or AppData. Look for files or folders named 'SmartPerformanceAddin' or similar.
    Affected if The SmartPerformanceAddin component exists within the Lenovo Vantage installation
  3. Check Lenovo Vantage version
    Right-click the Lenovo Vantage executable, select Properties, and check the File Version tab. Alternatively, run 'wmic product where "name like '%Lenovo Vantage%'" get version'
    Affected if The installed version falls within any vulnerable version range (compare against vendor advisory)
  4. Verify elevated privilege context
    Check if Lenovo Vantage runs with elevated or system privileges by examining the service configuration (services.msc) or task scheduler entries for Lenovo Vantage tasks running as SYSTEM or Administrator
    Affected if Lenovo Vantage or its components run with elevated (SYSTEM/Administrator) privileges
  5. Inspect Lenovo Vantage directories for symlinks
    Use 'dir /AL /S' or PowerShell 'Get-ChildItem -Path "<VantagePath>" -Recurse -SymbolicLink' to list any symbolic links within the Lenovo Vantage installation directory
    Affected if Symbolic links exist in Lenovo Vantage directories that could be exploited

If Lenovo Vantage with the SmartPerformanceAddin component is installed and runs with elevated privileges, the system is vulnerable to local privilege escalation via symlink manipulation.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the vendor-supplied patch/update for Lenovo Vantage when available. Until then, restrict local user privileges, monitor for suspicious file operations in the Lenovo Vantage directories, and consider disabling the SmartPerformanceAddin if not required.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,970
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Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-13154 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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