Jan 2025: Visual Studio Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
CVE-2025-21178 Published on January 14, 2025
Visual Studio Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
Visual Studio Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
Weakness Types
Heap-based Buffer Overflow
A heap overflow condition is a buffer overflow, where the buffer that can be overwritten is allocated in the heap portion of memory, generally meaning that the buffer was allocated using a routine such as malloc().
Out-of-bounds Read
The software reads data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer. Typically, this can allow attackers to read sensitive information from other memory locations or cause a crash. A crash can occur when the code reads a variable amount of data and assumes that a sentinel exists to stop the read operation, such as a NUL in a string. The expected sentinel might not be located in the out-of-bounds memory, causing excessive data to be read, leading to a segmentation fault or a buffer overflow. The software may modify an index or perform pointer arithmetic that references a memory location that is outside of the boundaries of the buffer. A subsequent read operation then produces undefined or unexpected results.
Products Associated with CVE-2025-21178
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Affected Versions
Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 Update 3:- Version 14.0.0 and below 14.0.24252.2 is affected.
- Version 15.9.0 and below 15.9.69 is affected.
- Version 16.11.0 and below 16.11.43 is affected.
- Version 17.10.0 and below 17.10.10 is affected.
- Version 17.12.0 and below 17.12.4 is affected.
- Version 17.6.0 and below 17.6.22 is affected.
- Version 17.8.0 and below 17.8.17 is affected.
Exploit Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) scores estimate the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. The percentile shows you how this score compares to all other vulnerabilities.