CVE-2025-0065: TeamViewer Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

CVE-2025-0065 Overview

CVE-2025-0065 is a privilege escalation vulnerability affecting the TeamViewer_service.exe component of TeamViewer Clients for Windows prior to version 15.62. The vulnerability stems from improper neutralization of argument delimiters (CWE-88), which allows an attacker with local unprivileged access to a Windows system to elevate privileges via argument injection.

Critical Impact

Local attackers can exploit this vulnerability to escalate privileges on affected Windows systems, potentially gaining full control over the compromised machine.

Affected Products

• TeamViewer Clients for Windows prior to version 15.62
• TeamViewer_service.exe component

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-01-28 - CVE-2025-0065 published to NVD
• 2025-01-28 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-0065

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified as Improper Neutralization of Argument Delimiters in a Command (CWE-88), also known as argument injection. The flaw exists within the TeamViewer_service.exe component, which runs with elevated privileges on Windows systems. When the service processes user-controllable input, it fails to properly sanitize argument delimiters, allowing attackers to inject malicious arguments that alter the intended behavior of commands executed by the service.

The attack requires local access to the system but does not require any user interaction to exploit. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability can gain elevated privileges, potentially achieving full system compromise with high impact to confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Root Cause

The root cause of CVE-2025-0065 lies in insufficient input validation within the TeamViewer_service.exe component. When processing arguments, the service fails to properly neutralize special characters and delimiters that could be interpreted as argument separators. This allows a local attacker to inject additional arguments into commands executed by the privileged service, effectively hijacking the intended command execution flow.

Attack Vector

The attack vector is local, requiring an attacker to have unprivileged access to a Windows system running a vulnerable version of TeamViewer. The attacker can then craft malicious input containing specially formatted argument delimiters. When this input is processed by the TeamViewer service, the injected arguments are interpreted as legitimate command parameters, allowing the attacker to execute arbitrary commands with the elevated privileges of the TeamViewer service.

The exploitation mechanism involves manipulating the argument parsing logic to break out of the intended parameter context and inject additional arguments or commands that will be executed with SYSTEM-level privileges.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-0065

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual process spawning from TeamViewer_service.exe with unexpected command-line arguments
• Abnormal child processes created by the TeamViewer service that indicate privilege escalation attempts
• Suspicious local user activity targeting TeamViewer service components
• Unexpected modifications to system files or registry keys following TeamViewer service execution

Detection Strategies

• Monitor TeamViewer_service.exe process execution for anomalous command-line arguments containing special characters or unexpected delimiters
• Implement endpoint detection rules to identify argument injection patterns targeting Windows services
• Use process auditing to track child process creation from the TeamViewer service
• Deploy behavioral analysis to detect privilege escalation attempts following local user authentication

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable Windows Security Event logging for process creation events (Event ID 4688) with command-line auditing
• Configure SIEM rules to alert on suspicious activity involving TeamViewer_service.exe
• Implement file integrity monitoring on TeamViewer installation directories
• Review local user account activity for signs of privilege escalation following exploitation

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-0065

Immediate Actions Required

• Update TeamViewer Clients for Windows to version 15.62 or later immediately
• Audit systems for TeamViewer installations running versions prior to 15.62
• Review recent local user activity on systems with vulnerable TeamViewer installations
• Implement network segmentation to limit lateral movement in case of compromise

Patch Information

TeamViewer has addressed this vulnerability in version 15.62 of the TeamViewer Client for Windows. Organizations should prioritize updating all affected installations. For detailed patch information, refer to the TeamViewer Security Bulletin TV-2025-1001.

Workarounds

• If immediate patching is not possible, consider temporarily disabling or restricting the TeamViewer service on critical systems
• Implement strict access controls to limit which users can interact with the TeamViewer service
• Use application whitelisting to prevent unauthorized executables from running on sensitive systems
• Monitor privileged service activity closely until the patch can be applied

# Check TeamViewer version on Windows systems
# Run in PowerShell to identify vulnerable installations
Get-ItemProperty "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\TeamViewer" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Select-Object Version
# Or check the installed programs
Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Product | Where-Object { $_.Name -like "*TeamViewer*" } | Select-Object Name, Version