CVE-2018-25373 Overview
CVE-2018-25373 is a stack-based buffer overflow [CWE-121] in SocuSoft DVD Photo Slideshow Professional 8.07. The flaw resides in the Registration Name field reachable through the Help > Register menu. A local attacker can paste a crafted payload that overwrites the Structured Exception Handler (SEH) chain and executes arbitrary code in the context of the user. The vulnerability is exploitable on the local system and requires user interaction with the registration dialog. Public exploitation details have been published on Exploit-DB and through a VulnCheck advisory.
Critical Impact
Local arbitrary code execution via SEH overwrite in the registration name input field of DVD Photo Slideshow Professional 8.07.
Affected Products
- SocuSoft DVD Photo Slideshow Professional 8.07
- Windows installations of the affected version
- Builds distributed via the vendor site at dvd-photo-slideshow.com
Discovery Timeline
- 2026-05-25 - CVE-2018-25373 published to NVD
- 2026-05-26 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2018-25373
Vulnerability Analysis
The vulnerability is a classic stack-based buffer overflow [CWE-121] in the input handler for the registration name field. The application copies attacker-controlled data into a fixed-size stack buffer without validating length. The oversized input overwrites adjacent stack memory, including the saved SEH record. When an exception is triggered after corruption, control flow transfers to the attacker-controlled SEH handler pointer, leading to code execution. Successful exploitation yields execution in the security context of the local user running the application.
Root Cause
The root cause is the absence of bounds checking on data submitted to the Registration Name field. The function processing the registration input writes user data directly onto the stack. No length validation, canary, or SafeSEH/SEHOP mitigations protect the stack frame in the vulnerable build. Attackers exploit this gap by submitting input larger than the destination buffer.
Attack Vector
Exploitation requires local interaction with the application. The attacker prepares a text file containing junk bytes that fill the stack buffer, an SEH chain overwrite (a nSEH short jump followed by a SEH pointer to a POP POP RET gadget), and shellcode. The attacker opens DVD Photo Slideshow Professional 8.07, navigates to Help > Register, and pastes the payload contents into the Registration Name field. Submitting the form triggers an exception that pivots execution to the shellcode.
No verified code example is published for redistribution in this article. Refer to the Exploit-DB #45346 entry and the VulnCheck Advisory for the full proof-of-concept structure.
Detection Methods for CVE-2018-25373
Indicators of Compromise
- Unexpected child processes spawned by the DVD Photo Slideshow Professional executable
- Crashes of the application accompanied by exception records pointing to non-image memory
- Presence of text files on the host containing long strings followed by shellcode-like byte sequences staged near the application directory
- Outbound network connections initiated by the slideshow process to unfamiliar hosts
Detection Strategies
- Monitor for process-creation events where DVD Photo Slideshow Professional is the parent of cmd.exe, powershell.exe, or other interpreters
- Alert on access violations and SEH chain corruption events surfaced through Windows Error Reporting (WER) for the application binary
- Inspect endpoint telemetry for memory regions marked executable inside the slideshow process that are not backed by a loaded module
Monitoring Recommendations
- Collect crash dumps from systems running the affected version and review exception records for SEH overwrite patterns
- Track file-write events that drop large text payloads adjacent to the application installation directory
- Review user activity logs for interaction with the Help > Register workflow on shared or multi-user systems
How to Mitigate CVE-2018-25373
Immediate Actions Required
- Remove SocuSoft DVD Photo Slideshow Professional 8.07 from systems where it is not required for business operations
- Restrict execution of the application to non-privileged user accounts through application allowlisting
- Block paste operations into the registration dialog through user training and policy until a fix is verified
Patch Information
No vendor advisory or patched release is referenced in the available CVE data. Consult the VulnCheck Advisory and the vendor site at dvd-photo-slideshow.com for any update notices. Until a fixed version is confirmed, treat the affected build as unpatched.
Workarounds
- Uninstall DVD Photo Slideshow Professional 8.07 on systems that do not require it
- Enforce system-wide Data Execution Prevention (DEP) and enable Enhanced Mitigation through Exploit Protection for the application image
- Configure SEHOP at the operating system level to disrupt SEH overwrite exploitation
- Limit local logon rights so untrusted users cannot interact with the vulnerable dialog
# Enable process-level mitigations on Windows for the affected binary
Set-ProcessMitigation -Name "DVDPhotoSlideshow.exe" -Enable DEP,SEHOP,ForceRelocateImages,BottomUp,HighEntropy
# Verify SEHOP is enforced system-wide
reg query "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\kernel" /v DisableExceptionChainValidation
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
