CVE-2025-61973
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 local privilege escalation vulnerability exists during the installation of Epic Games Store via the Microsoft Store. A low-privilege user can replace a DLL file during the installation process, which may result in unintended 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 confidenceDuring installation of the Epic Games Store from the Microsoft Store, a low-privilege attacker can place a malicious DLL file in a location where the installer will load it, leading to privilege escalation when the DLL is executed with elevated privileges during the installation process.
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
- None
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/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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Check if Epic Games Store is installedOpen Windows Settings > Apps > Installed apps and search for 'Epic Games Store' or 'Epic Games Launcher'. Alternatively, run 'Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* | Where-Object {$_.DisplayName -like '*Epic*'}' in PowerShell.Affected if Epic Games Store installed from Microsoft Store is present on the system
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Locate the Epic Games Store installation directoryRight-click the Epic Games Store app in the Apps list, select Advanced > Open file location. Note the installation path for the next check.Affected if Installation directory exists (typically under C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\) for Microsoft Store apps
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Verify DLL search order behavior in the installerUse Process Monitor (Sysinternals) to trace DLL loading when the Epic Games Store installer runs. Look for LoadLibrary calls that reference paths writable by standard users (check ACLs on those paths).Affected if The installer loads DLLs from paths where non-admin users have write permissions
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Check file permissions on the installation directoryRight-click the installation folder > Properties > Security. Verify which user groups have Write or Modify permissions on subfolders containing executable and DLL files.Affected if Standard users have write access to directories where the installer stores executable files or DLLs
A user is affected if Epic Games Store from Microsoft Store is installed and the installer or its DLLs reside in directories writable by low-privilege users.
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 dataThis vulnerability requires a fix from Epic Games to secure the installation process—users should avoid using the Microsoft Store version until a patch is released or monitor for official security updates.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-61973 — 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-2025-61973 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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