CVE-2025-15315: Tanium Module Server Privilege Escalation

CVE-2025-15315 Overview

CVE-2025-15315 is a local privilege escalation vulnerability affecting Tanium Module Server. This vulnerability allows an attacker with high privileges on the local system to escalate their access, potentially leading to complete compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected system.

Critical Impact

Local attackers with existing high-level access can exploit this vulnerability to gain elevated privileges on systems running Tanium Module Server, potentially compromising enterprise endpoint management infrastructure.

Affected Products

• Tanium Module Server (affected versions not specified)

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-02-09 - CVE CVE-2025-15315 published to NVD
• 2026-02-10 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-15315

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-88 (Improper Neutralization of Argument Delimiters in a Command, also known as "Argument Injection"). The weakness occurs when an application constructs command-line arguments from user-controlled input without properly neutralizing special elements that could modify the intended command behavior.

In the context of Tanium Module Server, this argument injection weakness can be leveraged by a local attacker who already possesses high-level privileges on the system. The vulnerability requires local access to exploit, meaning the attacker must already have some form of authenticated access to the target system. However, the impact is significant—successful exploitation can result in complete compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected system.

Tanium Module Server is a critical component in Tanium's endpoint management platform, responsible for hosting and distributing software modules to Tanium clients across an enterprise. Compromise of this server could potentially impact the security posture of all managed endpoints within an organization.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability lies in improper neutralization of argument delimiters in command construction (CWE-88). When the Tanium Module Server processes certain inputs that are subsequently used in command-line arguments, it fails to properly sanitize or escape special characters that could be interpreted as argument delimiters or command modifiers.

This allows an attacker to inject additional arguments into commands executed by the server process, potentially manipulating the behavior of system commands or processes running with elevated privileges.

Attack Vector

The attack vector for CVE-2025-15315 is local, requiring the attacker to have existing access to the target system. The attack has low complexity, meaning it does not require specialized conditions or significant preparation to execute successfully.

An attacker would need to:

1. Gain initial access to a system running Tanium Module Server
2. Obtain high-level privileges on the local system
3. Craft malicious input containing specially formatted argument delimiters
4. Submit this input through a vector that causes it to be incorporated into command-line arguments
5. The injected arguments would then be executed with elevated privileges, allowing the attacker to escalate their access further

For detailed technical information about this vulnerability, refer to the Tanium Security Advisory TAN-2025-011.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-15315

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual command-line arguments or parameters in Tanium Module Server process logs
• Unexpected child processes spawned by Tanium Module Server services
• Anomalous privilege escalation events on systems running Tanium Module Server
• Suspicious modifications to Tanium configuration files or directories

Detection Strategies

• Monitor process execution logs for Tanium Module Server with unusual argument patterns
• Implement application whitelisting to detect unauthorized binaries executed by Tanium processes
• Enable verbose logging on Tanium Module Server and review for argument injection attempts
• Deploy endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions to identify privilege escalation behaviors

Monitoring Recommendations

• Configure centralized logging for all Tanium Module Server instances
• Set up alerts for unexpected privilege changes on systems running Tanium infrastructure
• Regularly audit user accounts with access to Tanium Module Server systems
• Monitor for new or modified scheduled tasks and services related to Tanium components

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-15315

Immediate Actions Required

• Review the Tanium Security Advisory TAN-2025-011 for specific remediation guidance
• Identify all Tanium Module Server instances in your environment
• Restrict local access to Tanium Module Server systems to only essential personnel
• Implement network segmentation to limit exposure of Tanium infrastructure

Patch Information

Tanium has addressed this vulnerability. Organizations should consult the Tanium Security Advisory TAN-2025-011 for specific patch versions and update instructions. Apply the security update to all affected Tanium Module Server installations as soon as possible.

Workarounds

• Limit local administrative access to Tanium Module Server systems to reduce the attack surface
• Implement least-privilege principles for all accounts with access to Tanium infrastructure
• Enable enhanced logging and monitoring on Tanium Module Server systems until patches can be applied
• Consider temporary network isolation of Tanium Module Server systems if immediate patching is not feasible

# Configuration example
# Restrict local login access to Tanium Module Server (Windows example)
# Review and limit membership in local Administrators group
net localgroup Administrators

# Enable Windows command line process auditing
auditpol /set /subcategory:"Process Creation" /success:enable /failure:enable

# For Linux-based deployments, restrict sudo access
# Edit /etc/sudoers to limit privileged access to Tanium services