A essential safety vulnerability in Home windows BitLocker permits attackers to bypass the encryption characteristic by way of a classy time-of-check time-of-use (TOCTOU) race situation assault.
Designated as CVE-2025-48818, this vulnerability impacts a number of Home windows variations and carries an Essential severity ranking with a CVSS rating of 6.8.
The flaw permits unauthorized attackers with bodily entry to bypass BitLocker System Encryption, probably exposing delicate encrypted information heading in the right direction methods.
Key Takeaways1. CVE-2025-48818: TOCTOU race situation bypasses BitLocker encryption (CVSS 6.8).2. Requires direct system entry, not distant exploitation.3. Impacts Home windows 10, 11, and Server editions.4. Microsoft issued particular patches (KB5062552, KB5062553, KB5062554, KB5062560) out there for quick deployment.
BitLocker’s TOCTOU Flaw (CVE-2025-48818)
CVE-2025-48818 represents a time-of-check time-of-use race situation categorised underneath CWE-367, which exploits the temporal hole between safety verification and useful resource utilization.
The vulnerability particularly targets the BitLocker System Encryption characteristic, Microsoft‘s full-disk encryption answer designed to guard information at relaxation.
The assault vector requires bodily entry (AV:P) to the goal system, with low assault complexity (AC:L) and no person interplay required (UI:N).
The CVSS 3.1 vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C signifies excessive affect on confidentiality, integrity, and availability parts.
The vulnerability was found by safety researchers Alon Leviev and Netanel Ben Simon from Microsoft’s Offensive Analysis & Safety Engineering (MORSE) staff, highlighting the significance of inside safety analysis initiatives.
The exploitation of this vulnerability permits attackers to bypass BitLocker System Encryption on system storage units, successfully negating the safety provided by full-disk encryption.
An attacker with bodily entry can exploit the race situation to realize unauthorized entry to encrypted information, probably compromising delicate info, together with person credentials, company information, and system configurations.
The assault methodology leverages the inherent timing vulnerabilities within the BitLocker authentication course of, the place the system checks encryption standing and subsequently grants entry to encrypted volumes.
Throughout this essential window, an attacker can manipulate the authentication sequence to bypass safety controls.
The vulnerability impacts a complete vary of Home windows platforms, together with Home windows 10 (variations 1607, 21H2, 22H2), Home windows 11 (variations 22H2, 23H2, 24H2), and Home windows Server editions (2016, 2022, 2025).
Danger FactorsDetailsAffected Merchandise– Home windows 10 (all variations: 1607, 21H2, 22H2)- Home windows 11 (variations 22H2, 23H2, 24H2)- Home windows Server 2016, 2022, 2025- All architectures: 32-bit, x64, ARM64- Each customary and Server Core installationsImpactSecurity Function BypassExploit PrerequisitesDirect entry to focus on system required,No authentication wanted,No Consumer InteractionCVSS 3.1 Score6.8 (Medium)
Mitigation Methods
Microsoft has launched complete safety updates throughout all affected Home windows variations to deal with CVE-2025-48818.
The patches embody particular construct numbers: Home windows 10 22H2 (10.0.19045.6093), Home windows 11 23H2 (10.0.22631.5624), and Home windows Server 2025 (10.0.26100.4652). Organizations ought to instantly apply these updates by way of their customary patch administration processes.
System directors ought to prioritize the set up of safety updates KB5062552, KB5062553, KB5062554, and KB5062560, relying on their particular Home windows model.
Moreover, organizations ought to implement bodily safety controls to restrict unauthorized entry to BitLocker-protected methods, because the vulnerability requires bodily proximity to the goal system.
Common safety audits and monitoring for unauthorized entry makes an attempt can present extra layers of safety whereas the patches are being deployed throughout enterprise environments.
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