As threat actors adapt their techniques, Microsoft has responded with significant security enhancements while organizations navigate a complex threat environment dominated by privilege escalation attacks and driver vulnerabilities. This Windows Common Log File System Driver elevation-of-privilege flaw affected most Windows Server and desktop systems, allowing attackers with local access and a regular user account to gain full system privileges. These developments represent a significant shift in Windows security architecture, addressing fundamental flaws exposed by recent incidents while countering the sophisticated techniques employed by modern threat actors. The Windows security landscape has dramatically evolved in early 2025, marked by increasingly sophisticated attack vectors and Microsoft’s accelerated defensive innovations. The “Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver” (BYOVD) attack has emerged as one of the most concerning Windows security threats in 2025. A new “Quick Machine Recovery” feature will help administrators remotely fix systems rendered unbootable via Windows Update “targeted fixes,” eliminating the need for physical access to affected machines. Elevation of privilege vulnerabilities continue to dominate the Windows security landscape, accounting for 40% of total vulnerabilities in 2023. Windows Protected Print mode, introduced with Windows 11 24H2 in October 2024, eliminates the need for third-party print drivers that have become effective entry points for attackers. This represents the first major change to Windows printing in 25 years and prevents the installation of V3 or V4 printer drivers, requiring Mopria-certified printers using the Microsoft IPP class driver instead. These attacks direct users to paste malicious commands into the Windows “Run” dialog, establishing code execution that enumerates credentials and stored sessions before exfiltrating them. For organizations, staying ahead of these evolving threats requires vigilant patching, implementing advanced threat detection, and adopting Microsoft’s latest security features. According to recent reports, cyberattacks related to vulnerabilities in Windows drivers have increased by 23% based on 2024 vulnerability analysis. The CERT Coordination Center warned that this insecure kernel resource access vulnerability could be used to escalate privileges or execute DoS attacks, even on systems where Paragon Partition Manager was not installed. In March 2025, a zero-day vulnerability in a Microsoft-signed driver from Paragon Software (CVE-2025-0289) was actively exploited in ransomware attacks. April’s Patch Tuesday addressed 121 vulnerabilities, including a Windows zero-day (CVE-2025-29824) actively exploited by the Storm-2460 ransomware group. The company’s roadmap includes plans to allow security products to operate in user mode instead of kernel mode, with a private preview scheduled for July 2025. This technique involves attackers exploiting legitimate but flawed driver software to disable security controls and compromise systems. As Microsoft continues to reduce critical vulnerabilities and remove excessive privileges on endpoints, attackers are increasingly forced to exploit elevation of privilege vulnerabilities. Cyber Security News is a Dedicated News Platform For Cyber News, Cyber Attack News, Hacking News & Vulnerability Analysis. These attacks are particularly effective because drivers operate at the most privileged level of the operating system (ring 0), giving them direct access to critical system resources. In response to these evolving threats, Microsoft has announced several significant security enhancements.
This Cyber News was published on cybersecuritynews.com. Publication date: Fri, 02 May 2025 05:55:08 +0000