SYSTEM privilege escalation via NTLM reflection
Published Sep 9, 2025 · Updated Feb 20, 2026
Improper authentication in Windows NTLM allows remote authenticated users to gain SYSTEM privileges through network-based NTLM reflection. A public demonstration coerces a domain controller to authenticate to an attacker-created DNS name, removes part of the NTLM MIC, and reflects the authentication to LDAP. A low-privileged domain account able to add the DNS record can use the relay to obtain domain-level privileges and extract directory secrets.
Summary
What happened
Improper authentication in Windows NTLM allows remote authenticated users to gain SYSTEM privileges through network-based NTLM reflection. A public demonstration coerces a domain controller to authenticate to an attacker-created DNS name, removes part of the NTLM MIC, and reflects the authentication to LDAP. A low-privileged domain account able to add the DNS record can use the relay to obtain domain-level privileges and extract directory secrets.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-54918
- Published
- Sep 9, 2025
- Updated
- Feb 20, 2026
- Vendor
- Microsoft
- Product
- Windows 10 Version 1507
- Classifications
- CWE-287, T1557, T1068
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 9, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Feb 20, 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?
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- Affected versionversion=10.0.10240.0 <10.0.10240.21128
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
- CVE-2025-54918 Proof of Conceptfunctional · demonstrated
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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