CVE-2025-49690 is a high-severity race condition vulnerability identified in Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1809, specifically within the Capability Access Management Service (camsvc). This vulnerability arises due to improper synchronization when concurrently accessing shared resources, classified under CWE-362. The flaw allows an unauthorized local attacker to exploit the race condition to elevate privileges on the affected system. Essentially, the camsvc component fails to correctly manage concurrent operations, enabling an attacker to manipulate the timing of resource access to gain higher-level permissions than intended. This can lead to full system compromise since the attacker can execute code or commands with elevated privileges, impacting confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the system. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 7.4, indicating a high severity level. The vector details show that exploitation requires local access (AV:L), high attack complexity (AC:H), no privileges required (PR:N), and no user interaction (UI:N). The scope is unchanged (S:U), but the impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability is high (C:H/I:H/A:H). No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no patches have been linked yet, suggesting this is a recently disclosed vulnerability. The affected version is Windows 10 1809 (build 10.0.17763.0), a version still in use in some environments despite being superseded by newer releases. The vulnerability's nature as a race condition makes it challenging to exploit but potentially very damaging if successfully leveraged.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a significant risk, especially for those still operating Windows 10 Version 1809 in critical infrastructure, government, healthcare, or financial sectors. Successful exploitation could allow attackers to escalate privileges locally, bypassing security controls and potentially deploying malware, ransomware, or conducting espionage activities. Given the high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability, sensitive data could be exposed or altered, and system stability compromised. The requirement for local access limits remote exploitation but does not eliminate risk, as attackers could leverage other vulnerabilities or social engineering to gain initial footholds. In environments with shared workstations or multi-user systems, the race condition could be exploited by lower-privileged users or malicious insiders. The absence of a patch at the time of disclosure increases the urgency for mitigation. Organizations relying on legacy systems or with delayed update cycles are particularly vulnerable. The threat also extends to supply chain security, where compromised local machines could be used as pivot points for broader network attacks.

Immediate mitigation should focus on minimizing local access to affected systems by enforcing strict access controls and monitoring for unusual local activity. Organizations should implement application whitelisting and endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions to detect and block suspicious privilege escalation attempts. Since no official patch is currently available, consider upgrading affected systems to a supported and patched Windows version beyond 1809. If upgrading is not immediately feasible, apply any available workarounds recommended by Microsoft or restrict the execution of camsvc or related services through group policy or software restriction policies, if possible. Regularly audit user permissions and remove unnecessary local accounts or privileges. Employ robust logging and alerting to detect exploitation attempts. Network segmentation can limit the impact of compromised machines. Finally, maintain up-to-date backups and incident response plans to recover quickly if exploitation occurs.