CVE-2025-53789 Overview
CVE-2025-53789 is a local privilege escalation vulnerability in the Windows StateRepository API. The flaw stems from a missing authentication check on a critical function [CWE-306]. An authorized local attacker can invoke the affected API path to elevate privileges on the target system. Microsoft published the advisory on August 12, 2025, covering Windows 10, Windows 11, and Windows Server releases from 2016 through 2025.
The StateRepository service manages application state and package metadata for the Windows App Model. Abuse of an unauthenticated critical function in this component gives attackers a reliable path from a standard user context to higher privileges.
Critical Impact
A local, authenticated attacker can elevate privileges on affected Windows systems, gaining high impact to confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Affected Products
- Microsoft Windows 10 (1507, 1607, 1809, 21H2, 22H2)
- Microsoft Windows 11 (22H2, 23H2, 24H2)
- Microsoft Windows Server 2016, 2019, 2022, 2022 23H2, and 2025
Discovery Timeline
- 2025-08-12 - CVE-2025-53789 published to NVD
- 2025-08-12 - Microsoft releases security update for CVE-2025-53789
- 2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2025-53789
Vulnerability Analysis
The Windows StateRepository API exposes functionality used by the Windows application platform to read and write per-user and per-machine package state. The API is reachable from user-mode code via inter-process communication with the StateRepository service, which runs at higher privilege than a standard user.
CVE-2025-53789 exists because a critical function in this API does not enforce authentication on the caller. An attacker running as a standard authorized user can invoke the function without proving they hold the privileges required to execute the underlying operation. Because the service acts on behalf of the caller with elevated rights, the attacker inherits those rights on success.
The result is a local elevation of privilege on unpatched systems, giving the attacker high impact to confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the host.
Root Cause
The root cause is a missing authentication check [CWE-306] on a privileged code path in the StateRepository API. The function should validate the caller's identity and rights before performing the sensitive operation, but the check is absent. Standard users can therefore reach a code path intended for privileged callers.
Attack Vector
Exploitation requires local access and a valid low-privileged account on the target. No user interaction is required. The attacker calls the exposed StateRepository API entry point from user-mode code and drives the unauthenticated function to perform privileged actions. See the Microsoft Security Update Guide for vendor-provided technical detail.
No public proof-of-concept or exploit code is listed for this CVE at the time of writing. The vulnerability is not present on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list.
Detection Methods for CVE-2025-53789
Indicators of Compromise
- Unexpected child processes spawned by StateRepository.exe or the hosting svchost.exe group running the StateRepository service.
- Standard user processes issuing high volumes of RPC or COM calls to the StateRepository service.
- New or modified entries in %ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\AppRepository\StateRepository-Machine.srd that do not correlate with installer activity.
- Local accounts acquiring SYSTEM or administrator-equivalent tokens without a corresponding administrative logon event.
Detection Strategies
- Monitor for token elevation on processes whose parent chain traces back to StateRepository or to non-administrative user sessions.
- Alert on unusual client processes invoking StateRepository RPC interfaces, especially from unsigned or user-writable paths.
- Correlate Windows Security event IDs 4672 and 4688 to surface newly granted privileges tied to non-administrative parent processes.
Monitoring Recommendations
- Enable command line and process creation auditing (event ID 4688) on all endpoints and servers.
- Ingest Sysmon process creation and RPC-related events into your SIEM for retrospective hunting.
- Track patch state of KB updates addressing CVE-2025-53789 across the fleet and flag hosts missing the August 2025 cumulative update.
How to Mitigate CVE-2025-53789
Immediate Actions Required
- Apply the August 2025 Microsoft security update that addresses CVE-2025-53789 on all affected Windows client and server versions.
- Prioritize multi-user systems, terminal servers, VDI hosts, and shared workstations where local low-privileged accounts are most common.
- Audit local accounts and remove unnecessary interactive logon rights to reduce the pool of potential attackers.
Patch Information
Microsoft published the fix in the August 2025 security update rollup. Refer to the Microsoft Security Update Guide entry for CVE-2025-53789 for the specific KB article and package versions matching each supported build of Windows 10, Windows 11, and Windows Server.
Workarounds
- No vendor-supplied workaround is documented. Patching is the required remediation.
- Restrict local logon rights via Group Policy to limit which accounts can invoke local APIs on sensitive hosts.
- Enforce application control (Windows Defender Application Control or AppLocker) to block execution of unsigned tools that could carry an exploit.
- Isolate unpatched hosts from sensitive network segments until the update is deployed.
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
