dbcve.org
Quartus PrimeApplication · Intel

CVE-2025-14625

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-01-07
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 25.1 or later.
See remediation →
67/100
Remediation priority · Elevated

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
Uncontrolled Search Path Element vulnerability in Altera Quartus Prime Standard on Windows (Nios II Command Shell modules), Altera Quartus Prime Lite on Windows (Nios II Command Shell modules) allows Search Order Hijacking.This issue affects Quartus Prime Standard: from 19.1 through 24.1; Quartus Prime Lite: from 19.1 through 24.1.

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

This is a search order hijacking vulnerability in Altera Quartus Prime Standard and Lite on Windows (Nios II Command Shell modules). The application loads DLLs without specifying full paths, allowing attackers to place malicious DLLs in directories within the application's search path that are searched before legitimate system directories, leading to arbitrary code execution with the application's privileges.

MitigationUntil an official patch is released, restrict write access to directories in Quartus Prime's execution path and avoid running Quartus from untrusted network shares or directories; ensure all library loading uses explicit absolute paths.

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
Quartus PrimeApplication
Affected:>= 19.1, < 25.1

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
High
Privileges
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/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 checks

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

  1. Identify Quartus Prime installation location
    Check for Quartus Prime installation on Windows. Common paths include C:\intelFPGA\ or C:\intel\ for versions 19.1 through 24.x. Look for quartus_sh.exe, quartus.exe, or nios2_command_shell.bat in the installation directory.
    Affected if Quartus Prime is installed in a directory where untrusted users can write to subdirectories
  2. Verify installed version is within affected range
    Run 'quartus_sh --version' from the Quartus installation bin directory, or check the version in the installation folder name (e.g., 'intelFPGA_lite_20.1'). Compare against the affected range: version >= 19.1 and < 25.1.
    Affected if Installed version is 19.1 through 24.x (any version in the >=19.1, <25.1 range)
  3. Confirm Nios II Command Shell component is present
    Look for the Nios II Command Shell executable (nios2_command_shell.bat or nios2_command_shell.exe) in the Quartus installation directory, typically under nios2eds\bin\ or similar paths.
    Affected if Nios II Command Shell binaries exist in the Quartus installation directory
  4. Check for vulnerable DLL loading behavior
    Run the Nios II Command Shell and monitor which DLLs it attempts to load without full paths using Process Monitor (procmon.exe) from Sysinternals. Filter by the nios2_command_shell process and look for DLL lookup operations that succeed from directories within the Quartus path.
    Affected if The application loads DLLs from directories that can be modified by untrusted users (search order includes current directory or subdirectories writable by non-admin users)

A user is affected if Quartus Prime Standard or Lite versions 19.1 through 24.x are installed on Windows with the Nios II Command Shell component, and the application or its dependencies load DLLs from directories within the search path that are not secured against write access by untrusted users.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 25.1 or later
Fixed in 25.1
Interim mitigation

Until an official patch is released, restrict write access to directories in Quartus Prime's execution path and avoid running Quartus from untrusted network shares or directories; ensure all library loading uses explicit absolute paths.

Recommended fix High confidence

Quartus Prime 25.1 (Standard or Lite, depending on your license)

  1. Backup all Quartus Prime projects and settings before upgrading
  2. Download Quartus Prime version 25.1 or later from the official Intel/Altera website (community.altera.com or www.altera.com)
  3. Uninstall the current Quartus Prime version (19.1 through 24.1) from Windows Add/Remove Programs
  4. Restart the Windows system to ensure all previous components are cleared
  5. Install Quartus Prime 25.1 or later using the downloaded installer
  6. Verify the Nios II Command Shell modules work correctly after installation
  7. Re-import any custom IP or design files as needed for the new version
Caveat EDA tool upgrades may introduce compatibility changes with older projects; validate critical designs after upgrading

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Quartus Prime Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
24.0 hours of engineering $4,200
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,720.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-14625 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2025-14625 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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.

What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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