Local privilege escalation via hard-coded credentials
Published May 13, 2025 · Updated Feb 13, 2026
Use of hard-coded credentials in Microsoft Windows Hardware Lab Kit allows local users with administrative access to elevate privileges. Microsoft identifies third-party infrastructure used in the HLK build process but has not disclosed the credential's code, storage locus, or privileged operation. Existing high-privilege local access is required, and Microsoft has not specified the resulting privilege level or execution context.
Summary
What happened
Use of hard-coded credentials in Microsoft Windows Hardware Lab Kit allows local users with administrative access to elevate privileges. Microsoft identifies third-party infrastructure used in the HLK build process but has not disclosed the credential's code, storage locus, or privileged operation. Existing high-privilege local access is required, and Microsoft has not specified the resulting privilege level or execution context.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-27488
- Published
- May 13, 2025
- Updated
- Feb 13, 2026
- Vendor
- Microsoft
- Product
- Windows Hardware Lab Kit
- Classifications
- CWE-798, T1078
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- admin
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 13, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Feb 13, 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=1.0.0 <10.1.17763.7010
- Affected versionversion=1.0.0 <10.1.19041.5609
- Affected versionversion=1.0.0 <10.1.20348.3330
- Affected versionversion=1.0.0 <10.1.22621.5040
- Affected versionversion=1.0.0 <10.1.26100.3478
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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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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