CVE-2025-20048
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 · uneditedUncontrolled search path for the Intel(R) Trace Analyzer and Collector software all verions may allow an authenticated user to potentially enable escalation of privilege via local access.
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 confidenceIntel Trace Analyzer and Collector contains an uncontrolled search path vulnerability (DLL hijacking) allowing an authenticated local attacker to place malicious DLLs in directories the application searches when loading libraries. If the application runs with elevated privileges, the attacker can achieve privilege escalation by having their DLL loaded instead of the legitimate one.
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
- 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify Intel Trace Analyzer or Collector is installedCheck for the application in standard installation directories (typically C:\Program Files\Intel\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\Intel\) or query the Windows Registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall for Intel Trace Analyzer or Intel Trace Collector entriesAffected if The software is present on the system
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Identify installed versionLocate the version information in the application's installation folder (often in a version.txt, about.txt, or in the executable's properties) or via the registry uninstall entryAffected if The installed version matches the affected version range (if patches have not been applied) or is an unpatched version prior to vendor fix
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Check if application runs with elevated privilegesReview any scheduled tasks, services, or shortcuts that launch Intel Trace Analyzer/Collector with 'Run as administrator' or via privileged accounts. Examine the application manifest and any installation documentation for recommended execution contextAffected if The application is configured to run with elevated privileges (administrator or system account)
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Identify writable directories in DLL search pathUse Process Monitor or similar tooling to observe DLL search paths when the application loads. Check permissions on directories in the application binary path, working directory, and system paths (C:\Windows\System32, C:\Windows\SysWOW64, PATH environment variable directories) to identify locations where an untrusted user could place filesAffected if Any directory in the application's DLL search path is writable by an untrusted authenticated user
The system is affected if Intel Trace Analyzer or Collector is installed, runs with elevated privileges, and contains writable directories in its DLL search path accessible to untrusted authenticated users.
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 when available. As a workaround, secure all directories in the application DLL search path by removing write permissions for untrusted users and verifying only trusted DLLs exist in those locations. Consider running the application with least privilege until patched.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-20048 — 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-2025-20048 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data