Historical catalog analysis: CISA added this entry on October 14, 2025. The entry reflects catalog information retrieved on August 31, 2026, not a snapshot archived on the inclusion date. Check current vendor guidance before acting.
What the vulnerability is
CVE-2025-24990 is an untrusted pointer dereference vulnerability (CWE-822) located within the Microsoft Windows Agere Modem Driver. This flaw allows for privilege escalation, meaning a user or process with limited permissions could potentially exploit the driver to obtain administrator-level privileges on the affected system.
Exposure and applicability
This vulnerability specifically affects systems running the Agere Modem Driver on Microsoft Windows. Because this is a driver-level flaw, exposure is limited to environments where this specific hardware driver is installed and active. Organizations utilizing legacy modem hardware or specific industrial controllers that rely on Agere drivers are at higher risk of local privilege escalation.
Remediation priorities
Based on the reported vulnerability, we analyze the following prioritization for defenders:
- Inventory Driver Deployment: Identify all assets currently utilizing the Agere Modem Driver. Since this is a niche driver, identifying affected systems is the first step in reducing the attack surface.
- Apply Vendor Mitigations: Prioritize the application of official mitigations provided by Microsoft. For cloud-based environments, adherence to BOD 22-01 guidance is recommended where applicable.
- Decommission Unnecessary Hardware: If the Agere Modem hardware is no longer required for business operations, removing the driver or disabling the device entirely eliminates the vulnerability path.
How to validate remediation
Verification must go beyond a simple version check of the operating system. To ensure exposure has been reduced, defenders should:
* Verify Patch Application: Confirm that the specific security update addressing CVE-2025-24990 has been successfully installed and registered by the system.
* Confirm Driver Status: In cases where decommissioning was chosen, verify through device manager or system registries that the Agere Modem Driver is no longer loaded into kernel memory.
It is important to note that a successful update installation does not guarantee immunity if other configuration errors exist; it only addresses the specific pointer dereference flaw identified in this CVE.
Limits and open questions
At this time, it is unknown whether this vulnerability has been leveraged by ransomware campaigns. Additionally, while CISA has established a remediation deadline of November 4, 2025, for federal agencies, this date serves as a benchmark rather than a universal requirement for all private sector organizations. The primary residual risk remains the potential for other undiscovered flaws within legacy drivers that may not have received the same level of scrutiny as current-generation components.
Source and editorial note
CVE-2025-24990: Microsoft Windows Untrusted Pointer Dereference Vulnerability · Source date: October 14, 2025 · Retrieved August 31, 2026.
Material facts are tied to the cited primary source. Recommendations are independent defensive analysis unless attributed to the source. Confirm consequential decisions against current authoritative guidance.
Archive date: October 17, 2025. The displayed post date is assigned three days after the source date to organize this retrospective archive; it does not mean this site published the analysis then. First published by this site: September 30, 2026 at 01:09 UTC.
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