Microsoft has disclosed a significant security vulnerability in its Web Deploy tool that could allow attackers to execute remote code on affected systems.
The vulnerability, designated CVE-2025-53772, was released on August 12, 2025, and carries an Important severity rating with a CVSS score of 8.8 out of 10, indicating substantial risk to enterprise environments.
The newly identified flaw stems from improper handling of untrusted data deserialization, a common but dangerous weakness that can provide attackers with extensive system access.
Web Deploy, Microsoft’s deployment tool widely used for publishing web applications and content to IIS servers, becomes a potential attack vector when this vulnerability is exploited by malicious actors with low-level privileges.
Vulnerability Details and Impact
The security flaw, classified under CWE-502: Deserialization of Untrusted Data, allows remote code execution through network-based attacks with low complexity requirements.
According to the CVSS vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C), attackers need only low-level privileges to exploit the vulnerability, and no user interaction is required for successful attacks.
The vulnerability poses significant risks across three critical security dimensions: confidentiality, integrity, and availability, all rated as high impact.
This means successful exploitation could lead to unauthorized data access, system modification, and potential service disruptions.
Organizations using Web Deploy in their deployment pipelines face particular exposure, as the tool typically operates with elevated privileges necessary for application deployment and server management.
The attack vector being network-based means that remote attackers can potentially exploit this vulnerability without physical access to target systems.
The low attack complexity suggests that exploitation techniques may be relatively straightforward to implement, increasing the likelihood of active exploitation once details become widely available.
Microsoft’s Response and Mitigation
Microsoft has acknowledged the vulnerability and assigned it through their role as the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) Numbering Authority.
The company’s security team has classified this as an Important-level vulnerability, indicating that while serious, it may not pose the immediate widespread threat associated with Critical-rated vulnerabilities.
Organizations should immediately assess their Web Deploy implementations and prepare for security updates.
System administrators should review their deployment processes, ensure proper network segmentation, and implement additional access controls where possible.
The vulnerability’s reliance on low-level authenticated access suggests that robust authentication mechanisms and the principle of least privilege implementations can help reduce exposure risk.
Security professionals recommend monitoring for suspicious Web Deploy activity and implementing comprehensive logging to detect potential exploitation attempts.
Given the tool’s common usage in automated deployment scenarios, organizations should also review their CI/CD pipeline security to ensure compromised deployment tools cannot be leveraged for broader network infiltration.
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