The month-to-month report is comparatively light-weight, with some cellular updates or fixes which have already been carried out server-side and shouldn’t be a priority to admins, mentioned Tyler Reguly, affiliate director of safety R&D at international cybersecurity software program and companies supplier Fortra. One other vulnerability impacts solely Microsoft Floor {hardware}.
February replace patches two exploited vulnerabilities
The 2 exploited vulnerabilities are:
- CVE-2025-21391, a Home windows storage flaw that might let a menace actor delete information.
- CVE-2025-21418, a gap for privilege escalation starting in Home windows Ancillary Perform Driver for WinSock.
“Whereas each vulnerabilities are rated Necessary by Microsoft and have CVSS scores within the 7.x vary, I’d deal with the Home windows AFD for WinSock vulnerability as vital relating to patching, on condition that it has seen lively exploitation,” Reguly mentioned in an electronic mail to TechRepublic.
Vulnerabilities have been discovered within the Home windows Ancillary Perform Driver for WinSock 9 occasions since 2022, together with situations attributed to a North Korea-sponsored superior persistent menace group, Tenable senior workers analysis engineer Satnam Narang identified in a remark to KrebsonSecurity.
“The basis trigger is inadequate validation of user-supplied enter, permitting low-privileged customers to ship specifically crafted knowledge that overflows the buffer,” wrote Mike Walters, president and co-founder of patch administration firm Action1 in a weblog publish.
No consumer interplay is required to patch both of the exploited vulnerabilities.
CVE-2025-21391, the zero-day Home windows storage flaw, stems from the best way Home windows resolves file paths and follows hyperlinks, Walters mentioned. File deletion is just the start of the issues it might trigger, because it might result in privilege escalation, undesirable entry to safety logs or configurations, malware injection, knowledge manipulation, or different assaults.
“With a CVSS rating of seven.1, the CVSS metrics define that this vulnerability doesn’t have an effect on confidentiality, so no delicate knowledge will be accessed,” mentioned Kev Breen, senior director of menace analysis at cybersecurity platform maker Immersive, in an electronic mail to TechRepublic. “Nevertheless, it could possibly severely have an effect on knowledge integrity and availability.”
One vulnerability scores CVSS 9.0
The very best CVSS rating addressed within the February patch pack is CVE-2025-21198, rated at 9.0. This CVE might let a menace actor carry out a distant assault in opposition to a Linux agent in Excessive Efficiency Computing clusters. Nevertheless, it solely works if the attacker already has entry to the community the cluster is hooked up to.
“This networking requirement ought to restrict the affect of what would in any other case be a extra severe vulnerability,” Reguly mentioned.
SEE: Microsoft PowerToys now consists of Sysinternals’ ZoomIT, a display recording device meant for technical displays.
Microsoft patches spoofing bug affecting all consumer and server variations
CVE-2025-21377 was already publicly disclosed, however the patch is rolling out at the moment. With this vulnerability a menace actor might reveal a consumer’s NTLMv2 hash, letting the attacker spoof the consumer’s identification. Walters mentioned any group utilizing Home windows techniques that don’t solely depend on Kerberos for authentication is in danger.
CVE-2025-21377 is “one other CVE to patch sooner slightly than later,” Breen mentioned.
“The consumer doesn’t must open or run the executable however merely viewing the file in Explorer might be sufficient to set off the vulnerability,” mentioned Breen. “This particular vulnerability is named an NTLM relay or pass-the-hash assault and this fashion of assault is a favourite for menace actors because it permits them to impersonate customers within the community.”
Lastly, Ben McCarthy, lead cybersecurity engineer at Immersive, identified CVE-2025-21381, a vulnerability permitting for distant code execution in Excel.
“Excel vulnerabilities are notably harmful as a result of Excel macros and embedded scripts have traditionally been a significant assault vector for APT teams, ransomware operators, and monetary fraud campaigns, usually bypassing conventional safety defenses,” McCarthy mentioned.
Different main patches throughout manufacturers
As Walters identified, Chrome 131 landed lately, bringing patches for a number of reminiscence vulnerabilities. Not one of the vulnerabilities Google recognized have been exploited. Apple has additionally began rolling out iOS 18.3.1, which features a repair for a bodily assault which will have been exploited in opposition to particular people. Ivanti advisable admins to observe for updates from Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge this week.
“Browsers are a chief goal for attackers to focus on customers,” IT software program firm Ivanti’s vp of product administration for safety merchandise Chris Goettl wrote in a weblog publish. “Whereas together with browsers in your month-to-month replace course of is advisable, it leaves lots of CVEs uncovered in between cycles. It’s advisable to maneuver browsers to a weekly Precedence Updates cadence.”
Final however not least, Adobe launched updates for InDesign, Photoshop Parts, Illustrator, and extra.
