CVE-2025-14405
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 · uneditedPDFsam Enhanced Uncontrolled Search Path Element Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows phyiscally-present attackers to escalate privileges on affected installations of PDFsam Enhanced. An attacker must first obtain the ability to mount a malicious drive onto the target system in order to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within the configuration of OpenSSL. The product loads an OpenSSL configuration file from an unsecured location. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to escalate privileges and execute arbitrary code in the context of SYSTEM. Was ZDI-CAN-27867.
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 confidenceThis is a local privilege escalation vulnerability in PDFsam Enhanced caused by an uncontrolled search path element. The application loads an OpenSSL configuration file from an unsecured, attacker-controllable location (likely due to DLL search order or config path issues). A physically-present attacker with the ability to mount a malicious drive can place a malicious OpenSSL config file that causes the application to load arbitrary code with SYSTEM privileges.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data= 7.0.76.15222CVSS 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
- Physical
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/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 PDFsam Enhanced installationCheck if PDFsam Enhanced is installed on the system. Common installation paths include C:\Program Files\PDFsam Enhanced\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\PDFsam Enhanced\. Look for the application in the Windows Start Menu or Programs and Features (Add/Remove Programs).Affected if PDFsam Enhanced is installed on the system
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Retrieve installed version numberRight-click the PDFsam Enhanced application shortcut or executable, select Properties, and check the Details tab for the Version field. Alternatively, open Control Panel > Programs and Features, locate PDFsam Enhanced, and note the version shown.Affected if The installed version is exactly 7.0.76.15222
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Locate OpenSSL configuration filesSearch for openssl.cnf or openssl.cfg files in user-writable directories such as the application directory, current working directory, or directories accessible to low-privileged users. Check the PDFsam Enhanced installation folder for any OpenSSL config files.Affected if An OpenSSL config file exists in a location writable by non-privileged users alongside PDFsam Enhanced version 7.0.76.15222
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Inspect application OpenSSL behaviorIf possible, monitor the application startup using process monitoring tools (such as Process Monitor from Sysinternals) to observe which OpenSSL configuration file paths the application attempts to access during launch.Affected if The application attempts to load an OpenSSL config from a path controllable by a local attacker
A system is affected if PDFsam Enhanced version 7.0.76.15222 is installed and the application loads OpenSSL configuration from an unsecured, attacker-writable location.
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 dataHarden the OpenSSL configuration loading by specifying an explicit, absolute path to the config file in a secure, non-writable location, or ensure the application only loads configs from protected directories with proper access controls.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 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 $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-14405 — 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-2025-14405 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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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
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