CVE-2025-2425VulnerabilityPublished 18 Jul 2025

CVE-2025-2425: ESET NOD32 Antivirus · Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition

Affects ESET NOD32 AntivirusSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.1 Medium.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

CVSS 4.0 base score

5.1Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 1% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:A/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Attack Requirements: None
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: Active
Vulnerable system confidentiality: None
Vulnerable system integrity: High
Vulnerable system availability: None
Subsequent system confidentiality: None
Subsequent system integrity: None
Subsequent system availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable system is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or through terminal emulation (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., using social engineering techniques to trick a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: Low: The attacker must take no measurable action to exploit the vulnerability. The attack requires no target-specific circumvention to exploit the vulnerability. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable system.
Attack Requirements: None: The successful attack does not depend on the deployment and execution conditions of the vulnerable system. The attacker can expect to be able to reach the vulnerability and execute the exploit under all or most instances of the vulnerability.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker requires privileges that provide basic capabilities that are typically limited to settings and resources owned by a single low-privileged user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges has the ability to access only non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: Active: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a targeted user to perform specific, conscious interactions with the vulnerable system and the attacker’s payload, or the user’s interactions would actively subvert protection mechanisms which would lead to exploitation of the vulnerability.
Vulnerable system confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the Vulnerable System.
Vulnerable system integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the vulnerable system. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the vulnerable system.
Vulnerable system availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the Subsequent System or all confidentiality impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the Subsequent System or all integrity impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the Subsequent System or all availability impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v4.0 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 18 Jul 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-25.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
ESET, spol. s.r.o ESET NOD32 Antivirus	Affected =0	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

Given the nature of the vulnerability, European organizations using ESET NOD32 Antivirus should implement the following specific mitigations: 1) Restrict local user permissions rigorously to minimize the number of users with the ability to interact with the antivirus software at a level that could trigger the vulnerability. 2) Employ application whitelisting and endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools to monitor and block suspicious local activities that attempt to manipulate antivirus processes or files. 3) Implement strict user interaction policies, including training to reduce risky behaviors that could lead to local exploitation. 4) Monitor file integrity on critical systems using file integrity monitoring (FIM) solutions to detect unauthorized file modifications or clearing events promptly. 5) Coordinate with ESET for timely updates and patches once available, and plan for rapid deployment. 6) Conduct internal audits and penetration testing focused on local privilege escalation vectors to identify and remediate potential exploitation paths. 7) Isolate critical systems and sensitive data repositories to limit the impact of potential file tampering. These measures go beyond generic advice by focusing on local access control, behavioral monitoring, and proactive detection tailored to the specific exploitation vector of this TOCTOU vulnerability.

Description

Time-of-check to time-of-use race condition vulnerability potentially allowed an attacker to use the installed ESET security software to clear the content of an arbitrary file on the file system.

Impact

For European organizations, the impact of this vulnerability could be significant, especially for those relying on ESET NOD32 Antivirus for endpoint protection. The ability for an attacker to clear arbitrary files could lead to data loss, disruption of critical applications, or corruption of system files, potentially affecting business continuity and operational integrity. While the vulnerability requires local access and user interaction, it could be leveraged in scenarios where attackers have gained limited footholds, such as through phishing or insider threats. This could facilitate privilege escalation or sabotage within corporate networks. Additionally, the integrity compromise could undermine trust in security infrastructure, complicating incident response and recovery efforts. Sectors with high data sensitivity or regulatory requirements, such as finance, healthcare, and critical infrastructure, could face compliance risks if data integrity is compromised. The absence of known exploits reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the threat, especially as attackers often develop exploits post-disclosure.

CWE-367Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: Medium
The product checks the state of a resource before using that resource, but the resource's state can change between the check and the use in a way that invalidates the results of the check.
Implementation
The most basic advice for TOCTOU vulnerabilities is to not perform a check before the use. This does not resolve the underlying issue of the execution of a function on a resource whose state and identity cannot be assured, but it does help to limit the false sense of security given by the check.
Implementation
When the file being altered is owned by the current user and group, set the effective gid and uid to that of the current user and group when executing this statement.
Architecture and Design
Limit the interleaving of operations on files from multiple processes.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Abuse Case (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V1.11.3 (opens in a new tab)
V11.1.6 (opens in a new tab)
V1.11.2 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Leveraging Race Conditions via Symbolic Links (opens in a new tab)
Leveraging Time-of-Check and Time-of-Use (TOCTOU) Race Conditions (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

support.eset.com/en/ca8840-eset-customer-advisory-toctou-race-condition-vulnerability-in-eset-products-on-windows-fixed (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 18 Jul 2025, 10:01 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-367

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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