CVE-2025-29984: Dell Trusted Device Agent Escalation Flaw

CVE-2025-29984 Overview

CVE-2025-29984 affects Dell Trusted Device Agent versions prior to 7.0.3.0. The vulnerability stems from incorrect default permissions [CWE-284] on components installed by the agent. A low-privileged local attacker can abuse these permissions to elevate privileges on the affected host.

Dell published advisory DSA-2025-151 documenting the issue. The vulnerability requires local access and user interaction, but no elevated privileges are needed to initiate exploitation. Successful exploitation results in full compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability on the endpoint.

Critical Impact
A low-privileged local user can escalate to higher privileges on systems running vulnerable versions of Dell Trusted Device Agent, gaining full control of the endpoint.

Affected Products

Dell Trusted Device Agent versions prior to 7.0.3.0
Windows endpoints managed by Dell Trusted Device
Dell commercial client platforms shipping the Trusted Device Agent

Discovery Timeline

2025-04-15 - CVE-2025-29984 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-29984

Vulnerability Analysis

Dell Trusted Device Agent installs files and configuration objects with permissions that grant excessive access to non-administrative users. This weakness maps to [CWE-284] Improper Access Control. When a low-privileged user can modify resources that a higher-privileged process later reads or executes, the user can influence the privileged execution context.

The agent runs components under SYSTEM or elevated service accounts. If a standard user can write to executables, DLLs, or configuration files that these components load, arbitrary code executes at the elevated privilege level. Exploitation requires user interaction, which typically means triggering the service action or waiting for a scheduled task.

Root Cause

The root cause is incorrect default permissions applied during installation or update of the Dell Trusted Device Agent. Directories or files consumed by privileged processes are writable by unprivileged local accounts. Dell has not published the exact filesystem paths or ACL misconfiguration in the public advisory.

Attack Vector

The attack vector is local. An authenticated attacker with a standard user account plants a malicious payload in a writable location consumed by a privileged Dell Trusted Device component. When the component loads the payload, code runs under the elevated service context. See the Dell Security Advisory DSA-2025-151 for vendor-provided details.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-29984

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected executables, DLLs, or scripts written to Dell Trusted Device installation directories by non-administrative accounts
New or modified scheduled tasks or services referencing Dell Trusted Device binaries
Child processes spawned by Dell Trusted Device Agent services that do not match known-good binaries

Detection Strategies

Monitor file writes to Dell Trusted Device Agent directories from non-SYSTEM and non-administrator security principals
Alert on process creation where the parent is a Dell Trusted Device service and the child is cmd.exe, powershell.exe, or an unsigned binary
Baseline the installed version of Dell Trusted Device Agent across the fleet and flag hosts running versions below 7.0.3.0

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable file integrity monitoring on Dell Trusted Device Agent installation paths and configuration files
Collect Windows Security event ID 4663 and Sysmon event ID 11 for writes to the agent directory tree
Correlate token elevation events (4672) tied to Dell Trusted Device service processes against a known baseline

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-29984

Immediate Actions Required

Upgrade Dell Trusted Device Agent to version 7.0.3.0 or later on all affected endpoints
Inventory Dell commercial client systems and identify hosts still running vulnerable versions
Restrict interactive logon on high-value systems until patches are deployed

Patch Information

Dell released a fixed version of Trusted Device Agent addressing the incorrect default permissions issue. Apply version 7.0.3.0 or later as documented in Dell Security Advisory DSA-2025-151. Dell has not published a standalone workaround, so patching is the primary remediation path.

Workarounds

If immediate patching is not feasible, manually audit and tighten ACLs on Dell Trusted Device Agent directories to remove write permissions for non-administrative principals
Limit local logon to trusted administrative users on systems that cannot be patched immediately
Increase logging and monitoring on affected hosts to detect exploitation attempts pending patch deployment

bash

# Example: audit ACLs on the Dell Trusted Device Agent install directory
icacls "C:\Program Files\Dell\TrustedDevice"

# Verify installed version of Dell Trusted Device Agent
wmic product where "name like 'Dell Trusted Device%%'" get name,version