VulnerabilityPublished 12 Aug 2025

CVE-2025-49456: Zoom Clients for Windows · Untrusted Search Path

Affects Zoom Clients for WindowsSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.2 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 14:05 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

6.2Medium

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:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: High
Availability: None

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

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable component 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 remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
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 impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 12 Aug 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

Restrict local access: Implement strict local user access controls to prevent unauthorized users from gaining local access to systems where Zoom Clients are installed.
Application whitelisting: Use application control solutions to restrict execution of unauthorized binaries, especially in directories commonly used during installation processes.
Monitor installer directories: Regularly audit and monitor directories involved in the Zoom installation process for unexpected or suspicious files.
Deploy endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools: Use EDR solutions to detect anomalous behavior related to installer processes or unauthorized code execution.
User education: Educate users about the risks of installing software from untrusted sources and the importance of not running installers with elevated privileges unless necessary.
7. Use least privilege principles: Ensure users do not have unnecessary administrative privileges that could facilitate exploitation of this vulnerability. 8. Network segmentation: Limit the ability of compromised endpoints to access sensitive network segments to contain potential lateral movement.

Description

Race condition in the installer for certain Zoom Clients for Windows may allow an unauthenticated user to impact application integrity via local access.

Impact

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a risk primarily in environments where Zoom Clients for Windows are installed and where local access to user machines is possible by unauthorized personnel or malware. The integrity compromise could allow attackers to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running the installer, potentially leading to persistent backdoors or manipulation of communication sessions. This is particularly concerning for organizations relying heavily on Zoom for sensitive communications, such as governmental bodies, financial institutions, healthcare providers, and critical infrastructure operators. The threat is heightened in shared or poorly secured workstations, remote or hybrid work environments where endpoint security may be less controlled, and in organizations with less stringent local user access controls. While the vulnerability does not directly impact confidentiality or availability, the integrity breach could be a stepping stone for broader attacks, including data exfiltration or lateral movement within networks. Given the widespread use of Zoom across Europe, the potential impact is significant if exploited, especially in sectors where communication integrity is critical.

CWE-426Untrusted Search Path (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighOWASP Top 10 A08:2025: Software or Data Integrity Failures (opens in a new tab)
The product searches for critical resources using an externally-supplied search path that can point to resources that are not under the product's direct control.
Architecture and Design · Implementation · Attack Surface Reduction
Hard-code the search path to a set of known-safe values (such as system directories), or only allow them to be specified by the administrator in a configuration file. Do not allow these settings to be modified by an external party. Be careful to avoid related weaknesses such as CWE-426 and CWE-428.
Implementation
When invoking other programs, specify those programs using fully-qualified pathnames. While this is an effective approach, code that uses fully-qualified pathnames might not be portable to other systems that do not use the same pathnames.
Implementation
Remove or restrict all environment settings before invoking other programs. This includes the PATH environment variable, LD_LIBRARY_PATH, and other settings that identify the location of code libraries, and any application-specific search paths.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Software Supply Chain Security (opens in a new tab)
Infrastructure as Code (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Leveraging/Manipulating Configuration File Search Paths (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

zoom.com/en/trust/security-bulletin/zsb-25029 (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 20 Aug 2025, 02:17 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-426

Technical details

References

Community reviews

Related threats