Privilege escalation via command-shell CWD planting
Published Jan 6, 2026 · Updated Jan 6, 2026
Uncontrolled search path in Quartus Prime Standard and Lite 19.1 through 24.1 allows local users to gain elevated privileges. Altera identifies a current-working-directory planting attack in the Nios II Command Shell but has not disclosed the executable, library, or search operation that consumes the planted file. Exploitation requires low-privileged local access, a planted file in the shell working directory, and user action; successful code execution gains elevated privileges.
Summary
What happened
Uncontrolled search path in Quartus Prime Standard and Lite 19.1 through 24.1 allows local users to gain elevated privileges. Altera identifies a current-working-directory planting attack in the Nios II Command Shell but has not disclosed the executable, library, or search operation that consumes the planted file. Exploitation requires low-privileged local access, a planted file in the shell working directory, and user action; successful code execution gains elevated privileges.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-14625
- Published
- Jan 6, 2026
- Updated
- Jan 6, 2026
- Vendor
- Altera
- Product
- Quartus Prime Standard Edition
- Classifications
- CWE-427, T1574
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jan 6, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jan 6, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=19.1 <=24.1
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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