Overview
A critical privilege escalation vulnerability, identified as CVE-2025-1910, has been discovered in the WatchGuard Mobile VPN with SSL Client for Windows. This vulnerability allows a locally authenticated, non-administrative Windows user to elevate their privileges to NT AUTHORITY/SYSTEM. This effectively grants the attacker complete control over the affected Windows machine.
This vulnerability affects versions 12.0 up to and including 12.11.2 of the WatchGuard Mobile VPN with SSL Client.
Technical Details
The specific technical details of the vulnerability are not publicly disclosed in full at this time to prevent further exploitation. However, it involves a flaw in how the WatchGuard Mobile VPN Client interacts with the Windows operating system, allowing a malicious actor with local access to bypass security restrictions and gain elevated privileges. The exploitation process likely leverages weaknesses in the application’s permissions or service configurations to execute commands or access resources with SYSTEM-level privileges. Further analysis is likely to reveal specific details regarding the attack vector.
CVSS Analysis
Currently, the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) score for CVE-2025-1910 is listed as N/A. However, given the severity of the vulnerability (privilege escalation to SYSTEM level), it’s expected that the CVSS score will be high, likely in the critical range (9.0-10.0), once a more detailed analysis is performed and the vector is fully understood. A high CVSS score will reflect the ease of exploitation and the significant impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected system.
Possible Impact
The exploitation of CVE-2025-1910 can have severe consequences:
- Complete System Compromise: An attacker can gain full control of the affected Windows system.
- Data Breach: Sensitive data stored on the system can be accessed, copied, or deleted.
- Malware Installation: The attacker can install malware, including ransomware, keyloggers, or other malicious software.
- Lateral Movement: If the compromised system is part of a network, the attacker can use it as a stepping stone to compromise other systems on the network.
- Denial of Service: The attacker can render the system unusable by deleting critical files or disrupting system services.
Mitigation and Patch Steps
The most effective mitigation is to upgrade your WatchGuard Mobile VPN with SSL Client to a version that is not affected by this vulnerability. Please follow these steps:
- Check your Version: Determine the version of the WatchGuard Mobile VPN with SSL Client installed on your Windows machines.
- Upgrade Immediately: Upgrade to the latest available version of the client software. WatchGuard has likely released a patch addressing this vulnerability.
- Monitor WatchGuard’s Advisories: Keep a close eye on WatchGuard’s security advisories for updates and further guidance.
- Review Network Security Policies: Consider reviewing and strengthening your network security policies to limit the impact of a potential compromise. This could involve implementing network segmentation, enforcing strong password policies, and enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR): Ensure your EDR solution is up-to-date with the latest threat intelligence and configured to detect and respond to suspicious activity that might indicate exploitation of this vulnerability.
