Threats / Microsoft / CVE-2025-33053
CVE-2025-33053
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-08-04
Microsoft Windows vulnerability
Microsoft Windows allows remote code execution through Internet Shortcut files with malicious WorkingDirectory attributes pointing to WebDAV locations, enabling attackers to execute arbitrary code.
Verdict
Today item — known-exploited.
An attacker can craft a malicious Internet Shortcut file that specifies a remote WebDAV path in its WorkingDirectory attribute, causing Windows to execute code from that attacker-controlled location when the shortcut is opened.
CISA KEV Yes · 2025-06-105EPSS 0.85527 (verify live)6Exploit Public PoC7CVSS 8.83CISA SSVC Exploitation: active · Automatable: no · Impact: total4
01
Is it exploitable?
— the evidence, ranked above the scoreExploit available
Public proof-of-concept exploit code is cataloged for this vulnerability.We link the existence of the exploit; we do not host or redistribute payloads.
Reported exploitation
17 independent public reports of in-the-wild exploitation are cataloged.Distinct reporting sources (vendor, incident response, government); open them for the underlying claims.
Exploited in the wild
Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2025-06-10).
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.85527 — modeled likelihood of exploitation activity.EPSS is a daily-changing model output — open the source for today's value.
Severity / affected
CVSS 8.8 (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:F/RL:O/RC:C) · Affected: Microsoft, Windows. Confirm exact fixed builds in the vendor advisory.CVSS — CNA-assigned (CVE.org), version 3.1, set at disclosure.
Weakness (CWE)
Mapped to CWE-73 CWE-73 — weakness family: Path traversal / file.CWE — CNA-assigned (CVE.org); the weakness class drives how the flaw is exploited.
CISA SSVC (triage disposition)
Exploitation: active · Automatable: no · Technical Impact: totalCISA's own stakeholder-specific triage inputs, published in the CVE record (CISA Coordinator role). NOTE: this is CISA's three decision points; the final Act/Attend/Track decision also requires a Mission & Well-being input not published here, so no overall decision is asserted.
Currency of the record
CISA added this to its KEV catalog the same day the CVE record was published.KEV lag = CISA-KEV dateAdded − CVE.org datePublished; a floor on how long the known-exploited flaw sat in the public record before the federal catalog listed it. Severity/weakness here is CNA- or CISA-assigned (current at disclosure), independent of NVD's analysis backlog.
Public exploit available
Public exploit tooling is catalogued for this CVE (a functional/weaponized public exploit). Catalog entries: Metasploit module. We link the catalog page(s) only — no payload or code is hosted or restated here.Link, never host — the catalog page is the source; basicsecurity.net does not redistribute payloads.
02
Who’s exploiting it?
— attribution turns risk into urgencyAttribution not established
No confirmed (advisory-backed) threat-actor attribution is established for this record. Absence of a named actor is not absence of compromise — see Coverage & confidence.
03
Why it matters
— the attack path, told twice: adversary, then board1
Front door — unauthenticated access narrative 1
Attacker
I craft an Internet Shortcut file with a WorkingDirectory attribute pointing to my WebDAV server.
Business
Employees receive seemingly benign shortcut files via email or file shares.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
I distribute the shortcut file to target users through social engineering or compromised file repositories.
Business
Users unknowingly open the shortcut, trusting its apparent legitimacy.
3
Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3
Attacker
Windows resolves the WorkingDirectory path to my WebDAV server and executes my malicious payload.
Business
Arbitrary code runs with the privileges of the user who opened the shortcut, compromising the system.
04
What to do
— defensible action- Remediate per the vendor advisory — confirm the fixed build for your version and verify exposure.1
Say it to the boardA vulnerability with this evidence profile is a defensible budget line, not a backlog ticket — fund the change against the proof above.
05