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Uncontrolled Search Path (DLL Hijack)Weakness · CWE-427

CVE-2025-25059

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-11-11
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
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 for some Intel(R) One Boot Flash Update (Intel(R) OFU) software before version 14.1.31 within Ring 3: User Applications may allow an escalation of privilege. Unprivileged software adversary with an authenticated user combined with a high complexity attack may enable escalation of privilege. This result may potentially occur via local access when attack requirements are present without special internal knowledge and requires active user interaction. The potential vulnerability may impact the confidentiality (high), integrity (high) and availability (high) of the vulnerable system, resulting in subsequent system confidentiality (none), integrity (none) and availability (none) impacts.

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

Intel One Boot Flash Update (Intel OFU) software before version 14.1.31 contains an uncontrolled search path vulnerability in Ring 3 user applications. An authenticated local attacker with high complexity and active user interaction could exploit DLL hijacking or similar library loading to escalate privileges to administrator or system level.

MitigationUpdate Intel OFU software to version 14.1.31 or later to remediate this vulnerability. Organizations should also apply least-privilege principles and monitor for suspicious DLL loading in affected environments.

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 checks

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

  1. Verify Intel OFU is installed
    Check for Intel One Boot Flash Update in installed programs list via Windows Registry (HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall) or using 'Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Product' or 'Get-ItemProperty' against the Intel OFU installation directory if known
    Affected if Intel One Boot Flash Update appears in the installed software inventory
  2. Determine installed Intel OFU version
    Locate the Intel OFU executable or DLL and inspect its file properties (right-click > Properties > Details), or run 'Get-ItemProperty' on the main executable to read the ProductVersion attribute
    Affected if The reported version is earlier than 14.1.31 (e.g., 14.1.30, 14.0.x, or any version below 14.1.31)
  3. Confirm the Ring 3 user application component is present
    Identify if the OFU user-mode application (the Flash Update utility run by standard users) is installed and executable on the system
    Affected if The OFU user application executable exists and can be launched by a standard user account
  4. Assess DLL loading exposure
    Review the application's DLL search path configuration and monitor for DLLs loaded from user-writable directories (current working directory, TEMP, user profile paths) during OFU execution
    Affected if The application loads DLLs from locations accessible to non-privileged users, enabling hijacking potential

A system is affected if Intel OFU software is installed with a version lower than 14.1.31 and the user-facing Flash Update application is present and executable.

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 OFU software to version 14.1.31 or later to remediate this vulnerability. Organizations should also apply least-privilege principles and monitor for suspicious DLL loading in affected environments.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Intel(R) One Boot Flash Update version 14.1.31 or later

  1. Check the current version of Intel(R) One Boot Flash Update installed on the system
  2. Navigate to the official Intel support website or your system manufacturer's support page to obtain Intel(R) OFU version 14.1.31 or later
  3. Download the updated Intel(R) One Boot Flash Update software
  4. Run the installer with appropriate administrative privileges
  5. Follow the on-screen installation prompts to complete the update
  6. Restart the system if prompted to ensure the update takes effect
Caveat Review release notes for any changes to functionality or system requirements before applying the update

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
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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-2025-25059 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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