SYSTEM privilege escalation via insecure data-directory permissions
Published Jul 30, 2025 · Updated Feb 26, 2026
Uncontrolled search path handling in Elastic Beats before 9.1.0 allows local users to gain SYSTEM privileges through its Windows installer. The install-service PowerShell script assigns state and log paths beneath C:\ProgramData, whose weaker permissions expose privileged file operations to local users. The issue requires local low-privileged access and only affects services created by the script; Elastic Agent installations use a different path and are excluded.
Summary
What happened
Uncontrolled search path handling in Elastic Beats before 9.1.0 allows local users to gain SYSTEM privileges through its Windows installer. The install-service PowerShell script assigns state and log paths beneath C:\ProgramData, whose weaker permissions expose privileged file operations to local users. The issue requires local low-privileged access and only affects services created by the script; Elastic Agent installations use a different path and are excluded.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-25011
- Published
- Jul 30, 2025
- Updated
- Feb 26, 2026
- Vendor
- Elastic
- Product
- Beats
- Classifications
- CWE-427, T1574.005
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jul 30, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Feb 26, 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=8.0.0 <9.1.0
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
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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