CVE-2025-22480
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 · uneditedDell SupportAssist OS Recovery versions prior to 5.5.13.1 contain a symbolic link attack vulnerability. A low-privileged attacker with local access could potentially exploit this vulnerability, leading to arbitrary file deletion and Elevation of Privileges.
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 confidenceDell SupportAssist OS Recovery versions prior to 5.5.13.1 contain a symbolic link attack vulnerability. A low-privileged local attacker can exploit this to delete arbitrary files through symlink manipulation, ultimately achieving elevation of privileges on the system.
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< 5.5.13.1CVSS 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:3.1/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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Confirm Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery is installedCheck for the presence of Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery on the system. This is typically found as a pre-installed recovery partition or application on Dell systems. Look for the application in the system or check for the recovery environment.Affected if The software is present on the system and the version cannot be determined or is below 5.5.13.1
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Identify the installed version of Dell SupportAssist OS RecoveryLocate and read the version information for Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery. The version may be displayed in the recovery environment itself, in system information utilities, or in the DellSupportAssist folder if installed as software. Compare the found version number against 5.5.13.1.Affected if The installed version is any version prior to 5.5.13.1 or the version cannot be verified as 5.5.13.1 or later
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Verify the recovery environment is accessible to low-privileged usersAssess whether standard or low-privileged user accounts on the system can access the recovery partition or SupportAssist recovery functionality. This may involve checking file system permissions on the recovery partition or application directories.Affected if Low-privileged users have write access to directories where symbolic links could be created and leveraged for the attack
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Check for signs of symbolic link abuse potentialReview the environment for locations where unprivileged users can create files or links in directories that are processed by the SupportAssist recovery system. The vulnerability allows deletion of arbitrary files through symlink manipulation.Affected if Write-accessible directories exist that interact with the recovery system and could be exploited for symlink-based file deletion
The system is affected if Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery is installed with any version prior to 5.5.13.1 and low-privileged users have any access to create files or links in areas used by the recovery system.
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.
dbcve · scoped5.5.13.1
Update Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery to version 5.5.13.1 or later to remediate this vulnerability. Organizations should prioritize patching given the low attack complexity and high impact.
5.5.13.1
- Identify the current version of Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery installed on the system
- Navigate to www.dell.com and locate the Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery download page
- Download Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery version 5.5.13.1 or later
- Execute the installer with appropriate administrative privileges
- Follow the on-screen installation prompts to complete the upgrade
- Verify the installed version matches 5.5.13.1 or later after installation completes
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 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-2025-22480 — 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-2025-22480 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