CVE-2025-24923 is a medium-severity vulnerability identified in Intel(R) AI for Enterprise Retrieval-augmented Generation software. The core issue stems from an uncontrolled search path, which is a security weakness where the software improperly handles the locations from which it loads resources or executables. This flaw can be exploited by an authenticated user with local access to escalate their privileges on the affected system. Specifically, the vulnerability requires that the attacker already has some level of access (low privileges) and can interact with the system locally. The vulnerability does not require remote access or unauthenticated exploitation, limiting its attack surface somewhat. The CVSS 4.0 vector indicates a local attack vector (AV:L), high attack complexity (AC:H), and partial user interaction (UI:A). The attacker must have privileges (PR:L) and perform some user interaction to exploit the vulnerability. The impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability is rated high, meaning successful exploitation could lead to significant compromise of the system. The vulnerability does not involve scope change or chaining with other vulnerabilities. Since the vulnerability is in Intel's AI software designed for enterprise retrieval-augmented generation, it likely affects environments where this AI software is deployed, such as data centers, enterprise AI platforms, or cloud environments using Intel AI solutions. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no patches or references are provided in the data, indicating that mitigation may require vendor updates or configuration changes once available.

For European organizations, the impact of this vulnerability could be significant, especially for enterprises leveraging Intel's AI for Enterprise Retrieval-augmented Generation software in critical business processes, data analytics, or AI-driven decision-making systems. An attacker with low-level access could escalate privileges, potentially gaining administrative control, which may lead to unauthorized data access, manipulation of AI outputs, disruption of AI services, or lateral movement within the network. This could compromise sensitive business data, intellectual property, or customer information, leading to regulatory compliance issues under GDPR and other data protection laws. Additionally, disruption or manipulation of AI systems could affect operational continuity and decision accuracy, impacting sectors such as finance, healthcare, manufacturing, and public services. The requirement for local access and authentication reduces the risk from external attackers but raises concerns about insider threats or compromised user accounts within organizations.

To mitigate this vulnerability, European organizations should implement the following specific measures: 1) Restrict local access strictly to trusted and verified personnel; enforce strong access controls and monitoring on systems running the affected Intel AI software. 2) Apply the principle of least privilege rigorously to limit user permissions, reducing the chance that a low-privilege user can exploit the vulnerability. 3) Monitor and audit user activities on AI software hosts to detect unusual privilege escalation attempts or unauthorized access. 4) Coordinate with Intel to obtain and deploy security patches or updates as soon as they become available. 5) Employ application whitelisting and integrity verification to prevent unauthorized binaries or resources from being loaded via manipulated search paths. 6) Harden the environment by disabling unnecessary services and ensuring secure configuration of the AI software and underlying operating systems. 7) Conduct regular security training to raise awareness about insider threats and the importance of safeguarding credentials and access. 8) Implement network segmentation to isolate AI systems from general user environments, limiting the ability of attackers to reach vulnerable hosts.