CVE-2025-55245
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 · uneditedImproper link resolution before file access ('link following') in Xbox allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
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 confidenceThis is a local privilege escalation vulnerability in Xbox software where the application improperly resolves symbolic or hard links before accessing files. An authorized attacker with local access can exploit this link-following vulnerability (also known as a TOCTOU race condition) to manipulate file access paths and elevate their privileges to higher permission levels 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< 30.104.13001.0CVSS 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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Find Xbox Gaming Services version via PowerShellRun: Get-AppxPackage -Name Microsoft.XboxGamingService | Select-Object Name, Version, PackageFullNameAffected if Version field shows a number lower than 30.104.13001.0 (e.g., 30.104.12000.0 or earlier)
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Check version via registryQuery registry key: HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppModel\StateStore\Package\Microsoft.XboxGamingService* for the Version valueAffected if Retrieved version is below 30.104.13001.0
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Verify Xbox services running in privileged contextRun: Get-Process | Where-Object {$_.Name -match 'XboxGamingService|XboxGameOverlay'} | Select-Object Name, Id, StartInfo -And check if process runs as SYSTEM or elevated account via: (Get-Process -Name <processname>).StartInfoAffected if Xbox Gaming Services process is running with elevated privileges (e.g., as SYSTEM or Administrator)
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Check for suspicious symbolic links in Xbox appdata foldersInspect folders where Xbox Gaming Services stores data (typically %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Microsoft.XboxGamingService* or %PROGRAMDATA%\Microsoft\Xbox) for any symbolic or hard links created outside normal operationAffected if Unexpected symbolic links or hard links exist in Xbox service data directories pointing to sensitive system locations
You are affected if Xbox Gaming Services version is below 30.104.13001.0 AND the service is running with elevated privileges, allowing a local attacker to potentially exploit the TOCTOU link-following vulnerability for privilege escalation.
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 · scoped30.104.13001.0
Implement secure file access patterns by canonicalizing all file paths using functions like realpath() before access, validating file ownership and type after opening but before processing, and avoiding following symbolic links in privileged operations. Apply the principle of least privilege to limit the impact of successful exploitation.
30.104.13001.0 or later
- Open Windows Update and check for available security updates.
- Install the update for Xbox Gaming Services to version 30.104.13001.0 or later.
- Restart the device if prompted and verify the version in the Xbox app settings.
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-55245 — 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-2025-55245 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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