CVE-2025-48503
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 · uneditedA DLL hijacking vulnerability in the AMD Software Installer could allow an attacker to achieve privilege escalation potentially resulting in arbitrary code execution.
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 confidenceA DLL hijacking vulnerability in the AMD Software Installer allows an attacker to place a malicious DLL in a location where the installer will load it, potentially achieving privilege escalation to SYSTEM level and executing arbitrary code with elevated privileges.
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
- None
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/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 AMD Software Installer presenceSearch for AMD installer-related executables and components on the system. Look for files named 'amdcccle.exe', 'RadeonSettings.exe', or installer packages in typical AMD installation directories such as C:\Program Files\AMD or C:\Program Files (x86)\AMD. Use file search or check Add/Remove Programs for AMD software entries.Affected if AMD software or the AMD installer is present on the system and has not been patched after May 2025.
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Determine AMD software versionRight-click on the executable (e.g., RadeonSettings.exe) in the AMD installation folder, select Properties, and check the Details tab for the version number. Alternatively, open AMD Radeon Settings and navigate to the About section to view the software version.Affected if The installed version has not been updated to include the CVE-2025-48503 patch.
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Inspect DLL loading directories for suspicious filesCheck directories where the AMD installer searches for DLLs (typically the installer directory itself, system directories, and the current working directory from which the installer was run). Look for unexpected DLL files that may have been placed by an attacker, particularly in the same folder as the installer executable.Affected if Unexpected or unknown DLL files are present in the AMD installer directories, indicating potential pre-existing compromise.
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Review recent installer execution eventsOpen Windows Event Viewer and search the Security and Application logs for recent events related to the AMD installer (event IDs 4688 for process creation, or check the Windows Installer logs in %TEMP%). Identify who ran the installer and from which directory.Affected if The AMD installer was recently executed, especially from a directory writable by a non-admin user.
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Check directory permissions on AMD foldersRight-click the AMD installation folder (e.g., C:\Program Files\AMD\CIM), select Properties, then Security tab. Verify that non-privileged users do not have Write or Modify permissions to these directories.Affected if Standard users have Write or Modify permissions to the AMD installer directories, allowing them to place malicious DLLs.
A user is affected if the AMD Software Installer is present in an unpatched version and either suspicious DLLs exist in installer directories or the directories have overly permissive write access.
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 the AMD software update/patch when released. Avoid running the AMD installer in untrusted or shared environments until patched.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-48503 — 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-2025-48503 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
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