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Improper Privilege ManagementWeakness · CWE-269

CVE-2025-67905

HIGH · 8.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-02-17
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
89/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click

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
Malwarebytes AdwCleaner before v.8.7.0 runs as Administrator and performs an insecure log file delete operation in which the target location is user-controllable, allowing a non-admin user to escalate privileges to SYSTEM via a symbolic link, a related issue to CVE-2023-28892. To exploit this, an attacker must create a file in a given folder path and intercept the application log file deletion flow.

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 confidence

Malwarebytes AdwCleaner before v8.7.0 runs with Administrator privileges and performs log file deletion operations where the target path is user-controllable. A local attacker can place a file in a specific folder path and exploit a symbolic link race condition during the log deletion flow to delete privileged files and escalate privileges to SYSTEM.

MitigationUpgrade Malwarebytes AdwCleaner to version 8.7.0 or later. As a defensive measure, restrict physical access and monitor for creation of suspicious symbolic links in application directories.

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
Low

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:L

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. Identify if Malwarebytes AdwCleaner is installed
    Check for the presence of AdwCleaner.exe in common installation directories such as C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes\AdwCleaner or C:\Program Files (x86)\Malwarebytes\AdwCleaner, or search for the executable using Get-ChildItem -Recurse in PowerShell
    Affected if AdwCleaner.exe is found on the system
  2. Determine the installed version
    Right-click AdwCleaner.exe, select Properties, and view the Details tab for the File Version, or run the application and check the main window for the version number
    Affected if The version is lower than 8.7.0 (e.g., 8.6.0, 8.5.0, etc.)
  3. Verify if the application runs with elevated privileges
    Launch AdwCleaner and observe if User Account Control (UAC) prompts for Administrator credentials, or check the process properties in Task Manager for the 'Highest run' level
    Affected if The application runs with Administrator or SYSTEM privileges
  4. Check for user-controllable log file paths
    Examine the AdwCleaner configuration files (such as settings.ini or config.json in the application directory or %APPDATA%\Malwarebytes\AdwCleaner) for log file path settings that may be modifiable by low-privileged users
    Affected if Log file paths point to locations writable by non-privileged users

A system is affected if Malwarebytes AdwCleaner version 8.7.0 or earlier is installed and runs with Administrator privileges, allowing a low-privileged attacker to manipulate log file paths for arbitrary file deletion via symbolic links.

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

Upgrade Malwarebytes AdwCleaner to version 8.7.0 or later. As a defensive measure, restrict physical access and monitor for creation of suspicious symbolic links in application directories.

Recommended fix High confidence

v.8.7.0 or later

  1. Confirm current AdwCleaner version by opening the application and checking Help > About
  2. Download Malwarebytes AdwCleaner v.8.7.0 or later from the official Malwarebytes website (www.malwarebytes.com)
  3. Run the installer as Administrator
  4. Follow the installation wizard prompts to complete the upgrade
  5. Restart the application after installation
  6. Verify the installed version shows v.8.7.0 or later

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,740
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,784.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2025-67905 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • 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