CVE-2025-13703
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 · uneditedVIPRE Advanced Security Incorrect Permission Assignment Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows local attackers to escalate privileges on affected installations of VIPRE Advanced Security for PC. An attacker must first obtain the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target system in order to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within the product installer. The issue results from incorrect permissions on a folder. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to escalate privileges and execute arbitrary code in the context of SYSTEM. Was ZDI-CAN-27147.
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 confidenceVIPRE Advanced Security installer sets incorrect permissions on a folder, allowing local low-privileged attackers to escalate to SYSTEM context and execute arbitrary code.
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:3.0/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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Check if VIPRE Advanced Security is installedCheck Windows registry for the product at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{ProductID} or look for VIPRE folder in Program FilesAffected if VIPRE Advanced Security is found on the system
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Locate the VIPRE installation directoryCheck the InstallLocation value in the registry key found above, or look for VIPRE folders in C:\Program Files or C:\Program Files (x86)Affected if An installation directory exists and contains VIPRE binaries
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Identify folders created by the installer with weak permissionsUse icacls or PowerShell Get-Acl to list permissions on the VIPRE installation folder and subfolders, focusing on folders writable by Users or Everyone groupsAffected if Any system folder (especially Program Files location) grants write/modify access to low-privileged users or Everyone
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Verify if low-privileged users can modify executable locationsAs a standard user (non-admin), attempt to create or modify files in the VIPRE installation folder or subfoldersAffected if A low-privileged account can write or modify files in folders that should require administrator privileges
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Check for service executable paths with weak ACLsRun sc qc VIPREServiceName (or relevant service) to find the binary path, then check permissions on that executableAffected if The service binary or its parent folder is writable by non-admin users, allowing DLL/hijacking
If VIPRE Advanced Security is installed and any installation folder or service binary path grants write access to low-privileged users or Everyone, the environment is affected by this permission escalation vulnerability.
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-supplied patch or update to a corrected version that properly secures folder permissions; verify no lingering permission misconfigurations remain.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-13703 — 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-2025-13703 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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