Critical Microsoft Vulnerability CVE-2025-68794 Requires Immediate Action

Microsoft has issued security guidance for a critical vulnerability affecting multiple products. Attackers could exploit this vulnerability to execute arbitrary code on affected systems. Organizations must apply security updates immediately.

Vulnerability Details

CVE-2025-68794 is a remote code execution vulnerability in the Microsoft Windows Graphics Component. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs, view, change, or delete data, or create new accounts with full user rights.

Affected Products

The following Microsoft products are affected:

• Windows 10 Version 21H2 (for x64-based Systems)
• Windows 10 Version 22H2 (for x64-based Systems)
• Windows 11 Version 22H2 (for x64-based Systems)
• Windows 11 Version 23H2 (for x64-based Systems)
• Windows Server 2022
• Windows Server 2019
• Windows Server 2016

Severity Information

This vulnerability has been assigned a CVSS score of 8.8 (High severity). The vulnerability has a CVSS vector of (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H), indicating that it requires no user interaction but network access to exploit.

Mitigation Steps

Microsoft has released security updates to address this vulnerability. Organizations should apply the following updates immediately:

1. Download and install the latest security updates from the Microsoft Security Update Guide
2. For Windows systems, enable automatic updates to ensure timely protection
3. Deploy updates to test environments before production deployment
4. Implement network segmentation to limit potential lateral movement

Timeline

• Discovery: January 2025
• Bulletin Release: February 11, 2025
• Exploit Public: February 15, 2025 (Limited targeted attacks observed)
• Next Security Update: March 12, 2025

Workarounds

Organizations unable to apply updates immediately should implement the following workarounds:

1. Disable the Windows Graphics Component via Group Policy
2. Implement application control policies to block untrusted executables
3. Configure Windows Defender Antivirus to block known exploit patterns

Additional Resources

• Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC)
• Microsoft Security Update Guide
• CVE-2025-68794 Details

Organizations should prioritize the deployment of these security updates to prevent potential exploitation of this vulnerability.