CVE-2025-21293: 
vulnerability analysis and mitigation

Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) contains an elevation of privilege vulnerability tracked as CVE-2025-21293. The vulnerability was discovered by Sebastian Sadeq Birke of ReTest Security ApS and was officially disclosed on January 14, 2025. This security flaw affects Microsoft Windows systems running Active Directory Domain Services (SecurityOnline, NVD).

The vulnerability exists in the 'Network Configuration Operators' group, a default security group created during on-premises domain controller setup. The security flaw stems from excessive privileges granted to this group, specifically the ability to create registry subkeys for sensitive services including DnsCache (DNS Client Service) and NetBT (NetBIOS over TCP/IP Service). The vulnerability has received a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.8 (HIGH) with the vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H, indicating network accessibility with low attack complexity (NVD).

The vulnerability allows an attacker to escalate privileges to SYSTEM level by exploiting the misconfigured permissions in Active Directory security groups and Windows performance monitoring mechanisms. This elevation of privilege could potentially give attackers complete control over affected systems (SecurityOnline).

Microsoft has addressed this vulnerability in the January 2025 security update released on January 14, 2025. Organizations using Active Directory Domain Services are strongly recommended to apply this update immediately to mitigate the risk (SecurityOnline).