Race ConditionWeakness · CWE-362

CVE-2025-20104

HIGH · 7.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-05-13
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
73/100
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
Race condition in some Administrative Tools for some Intel(R) Network Adapters package before version 29.4 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 · high confidence

A race condition vulnerability exists in Intel Network Adapters Administrative Tools versions prior to 29.4. An authenticated local user can exploit this timing vulnerability to gain elevated privileges on the affected system. The vulnerability requires local access and authentication, but can lead to complete privilege escalation.

MitigationUpdate Intel Network Adapters Administrative Tools to version 29.4 or later. Apply all relevant vendor security patches and verify the update does not introduce compatibility issues with existing network adapter configurations.

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
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/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. Verify Intel Network Adapters Administrative Tools is installed
    Check program listings in Windows Programs and Features, or use 'Get-ItemProperty' on registry key HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* to locate Intel Network Adapters Administrative Tools
    Affected if The software appears in installed programs list
  2. Determine the installed version
    Locate the version information in the program entry from Programs and Features, or check the 'DisplayVersion' value in the corresponding registry key, or right-click the executable in Program Files and view Properties > Details
    Affected if A version number is displayed (for example, shown as x.x.x or similar format)
  3. Compare installed version against vulnerable range
    Compare the identified version to version 29.4 - versions prior to 29.4 (such as 29.3, 29.2, 28.x, lower) are in the vulnerable range
    Affected if Installed version is lower than 29.4 (for example, 29.3.7, 29.0, 28.5, etc.)
  4. Confirm local authentication requirement
    Verify the system has local user accounts configured, as the vulnerability requires an authenticated local user to exploit the race condition
    Affected if Local user accounts exist on the system

User is affected if Intel Network Adapters Administrative Tools is installed with a version lower than 29.4 and the attacker has authenticated local user access to the system.

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

Update Intel Network Adapters Administrative Tools to version 29.4 or later. Apply all relevant vendor security patches and verify the update does not introduce compatibility issues with existing network adapter configurations.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Intel Network Adapters Administrative Tools version 29.4 or later

  1. Identify the specific Intel Network Adapters Administrative Tools package installed on the system
  2. Check the current version of the installed Intel Administrative Tools package
  3. Download Intel Network Adapters Administrative Tools version 29.4 or later from the official Intel download center
  4. Apply the update following Intel's standard installation procedures for network adapter tools
  5. Verify the installed version matches the patched release (29.4 or higher)

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
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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-2025-20104 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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