CVE-2025-20104 is a medium-severity vulnerability identified in the Administrative Tools for certain Intel(R) Network Adapters packages prior to version 29.4. The flaw arises from a race condition within these administrative tools, which can be exploited by an authenticated local user to escalate their privileges on the affected system. Specifically, the race condition allows an attacker with limited privileges (low-level privileges) and requiring user interaction to manipulate the timing of operations in the administrative tools, potentially gaining higher-level privileges than originally granted. This escalation of privilege can compromise the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the system by allowing unauthorized access to sensitive network adapter configurations or system resources. The vulnerability does not require network access (attack vector is local), but does require the attacker to have some level of authenticated access and to interact with the system. The CVSS 4.0 base score is 5.4, reflecting a medium severity, with high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability, but mitigated by the need for local access and user interaction. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no official patches or mitigation links have been provided yet. This vulnerability is relevant to systems using Intel network adapters managed by the affected administrative tools, which are common in enterprise environments.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a significant risk particularly in environments where Intel network adapters are widely deployed, such as data centers, corporate networks, and critical infrastructure. An attacker who gains local authenticated access—potentially through compromised credentials or insider threat—could exploit this race condition to elevate privileges, leading to unauthorized configuration changes, interception or manipulation of network traffic, or disruption of network services. This could result in data breaches, service outages, or lateral movement within the network. Given the high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability, organizations handling sensitive data or critical operations are at heightened risk. The requirement for local access and user interaction somewhat limits remote exploitation but does not eliminate risk, especially in scenarios where endpoint security is weak or insider threats exist. The absence of known exploits in the wild currently reduces immediate urgency but does not preclude future exploitation once the vulnerability becomes publicly known.

European organizations should prioritize upgrading the Administrative Tools for Intel Network Adapters to version 29.4 or later as soon as it becomes available. Until patches are released, organizations should implement strict access controls to limit local authenticated access to trusted users only, enforce least privilege principles, and monitor for unusual local user activity. Endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions should be tuned to detect suspicious behavior related to privilege escalation attempts. Additionally, organizations should conduct thorough audits of user permissions and network adapter configurations to identify and remediate any unauthorized changes. Network segmentation can help contain potential lateral movement resulting from exploitation. User training to recognize and report suspicious activity is also recommended. Finally, organizations should maintain up-to-date inventories of affected hardware and software to ensure timely patch deployment once fixes are released.