VulnerabilityPublished 16 Jun 2025Updated 10 Jul 2025

CVE-2025-3464: ASUS Armoury Crate · Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition

Affects ASUS Armoury CrateSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 8.4 High.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 12:29 UTC

CVSS 4.0 base score

8.4High

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

EPSS: 0.6% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 48% 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:N/VC:L/VI:H/VA:H/SC:L/SI:H/SA:H

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

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: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without interaction from any human user, other than the attacker.
Vulnerable system confidentiality: Low: There is some loss of confidentiality. Access to some restricted information is obtained, but the attacker does not have control over what information is obtained, or the amount or kind of loss is limited. The information disclosure does not cause a direct, serious loss to 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: High: There is a total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the Vulnerable System; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the Vulnerable System (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).
Subsequent system confidentiality: Low: There is some loss of confidentiality. Access to some restricted information is obtained, but the attacker does not have control over what information is obtained, or the amount or kind of loss is limited. The information disclosure does not cause a direct, serious loss to the Subsequent System.
Subsequent 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 Subsequent System. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the Subsequent System.
Subsequent system availability: High: There is a total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the Subsequent System; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the Subsequent System (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v4.0 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 16 Jun 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 26 Oct 2026.

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 or the CVSS exploit maturity 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

AI-suggested

European organizations should prioritize the following specific mitigation steps: 1) Immediately inventory all systems running ASUS Armoury Crate within the affected version range (v5.9.9.0 to v6.1.18). 2) Monitor ASUS official channels for security advisories and apply patches or updates as soon as they become available. 3) Restrict local access to systems running Armoury Crate to trusted personnel only, employing strict access controls and endpoint security measures to prevent unauthorized local logins. 4) Implement application whitelisting and integrity monitoring on systems with Armoury Crate to detect unauthorized modifications or suspicious behavior indicative of exploitation attempts. 5) Employ privilege separation and least privilege principles to limit the impact of potential local exploits, ensuring users and processes have only the minimum necessary permissions. 6) Conduct regular audits of system logs and authentication events to identify anomalies that may indicate exploitation attempts. 7) Consider disabling or uninstalling Armoury Crate on systems where it is not essential, reducing the attack surface. These targeted actions go beyond generic patching advice and focus on limiting local attack vectors and early detection.

Description

A race condition vulnerability exists in Armoury Crate. This vulnerability arises from a Time-of-check Time-of-use issue, potentially leading to authentication bypass. Refer to the 'Security Update for Armoury Crate App' section on the ASUS Security Advisory for more information.

Impact

For European organizations, the impact of this vulnerability could be substantial, especially for those using ASUS hardware managed via Armoury Crate software. The authentication bypass could allow malicious insiders or attackers with limited local access to escalate privileges or manipulate system configurations, potentially leading to unauthorized access to sensitive data, disruption of hardware management functions, or persistence mechanisms on critical systems. This could affect sectors with high reliance on ASUS hardware, including corporate IT environments, research institutions, and manufacturing facilities. Given the high integrity and availability impact, critical infrastructure or operational technology environments using ASUS devices could face operational disruptions or data integrity issues. The vulnerability's local attack vector limits remote exploitation but does not eliminate risk from insider threats or attackers who gain initial footholds through other means. The absence of user interaction requirement further increases the risk of automated or stealthy exploitation once local access is obtained.

Summary

CVE-2025-3464 is a high-severity race condition vulnerability identified in ASUS Armoury Crate software versions 5.9.9.0 through 6.1.18. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-367, which pertains to Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) race conditions. This type of flaw occurs when a system checks a condition (such as user authentication or access rights) and then uses the result of that check later, but an attacker can alter the state between the check and the use, leading to unexpected behavior. In this case, the TOCTOU issue in Armoury Crate can potentially allow an attacker with limited privileges (low-level privileges) to bypass authentication mechanisms. The CVSS 4.0 base score of 8.4 reflects a high severity, with the vector indicating that the attack requires local access (AV:L), low attack complexity (AC:L), no attacker privileges required beyond low (PR:L), no user interaction (UI:N), and impacts confidentiality, integrity, and availability to a high degree. The vulnerability scope is high, meaning it can affect components beyond the initially vulnerable module. Armoury Crate is a utility software used primarily for managing ASUS hardware features such as RGB lighting, device configuration, and system monitoring. The race condition could allow an attacker to escalate privileges or bypass authentication controls, potentially leading to unauthorized system modifications or access to sensitive configuration data. Although no known exploits are currently reported in the wild, the vulnerability's nature and high CVSS score suggest that exploitation could have significant consequences if weaponized. The lack of publicly available patches at the time of publication underscores the need for immediate attention from affected users and administrators.

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

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 14 Jul 2025, 21:01 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-367

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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