SYSTEM code execution via unquoted service path
Published Aug 14, 2025 · Updated Aug 14, 2025
Privilege escalation in Seagate Toolkit before 2.34.0.33 on Windows allows local users with administrative access to execute code as SYSTEM. Toolkit registers its Windows service executable path without quotation marks, so Windows can resolve C:\Program.exe before the intended binary. Exploitation requires administrative privileges and write access to the system-drive root; a planted Program.exe runs when the SYSTEM service starts.
Summary
What happened
Privilege escalation in Seagate Toolkit before 2.34.0.33 on Windows allows local users with administrative access to execute code as SYSTEM. Toolkit registers its Windows service executable path without quotation marks, so Windows can resolve C:\Program.exe before the intended binary. Exploitation requires administrative privileges and write access to the system-drive root; a planted Program.exe runs when the SYSTEM service starts.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-9043
- Published
- Aug 14, 2025
- Updated
- Aug 14, 2025
- Vendor
- Seagate
- Product
- Toolkit
- Classifications
- CWE-428, T1574.009
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- admin
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 14, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 14, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.
Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=0 <2.34.0.33
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.
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
Check the software in your environment
Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.
Book a demo