Microsoft has announced this month’s security update including patches for 80 vulnerabilities and includes patches for Windows, Office and Exchange. The patch, published for the May 2025 update, provides critical patches for four remote code execution vulnerabilities. Finally, elevation of privilege issues and security feature bypass vulnerabilities are patched. The company’s efforts underscore its commitment to maintaining the integrity of its platforms and protecting users against potential threats.
The one getting the most attention is the biggest vulnerability patched, a remote code execution flaw in the Microsoft High Performance Compute (HPC) Pack. This bug, given the CVE designation CVE-2025-55232, has a critical CVSS score of 9.8. Using this vulnerability, attackers can run their own code on vulnerable machines. This presents a critical cybersecurity risk to U.S. federally funded HPC solutions that other organizations depend on.
Fixed was an elevation of privilege bug affecting Windows NTLM (CVE-2025-54918), which had a CVSS score of 8.8. We have found that this vulnerability may allow an exploiter to obtain SYSTEM privileges, thus compromising system security to an even greater degree. Microsoft’s update addressed four vulnerabilities related to BitLocker, the full-disk encryption function. All of these vulnerabilities are classed as security feature bypass vulnerabilities.
Details on Key Vulnerabilities
Remote code execution vulnerability CVE-2023-33229 in the HPC Pack is especially concerning because of its 9.8 CVSS score. Organizations using Microsoft’s HPC solutions need to focus on deploying this important patch as quickly as possible to protect against the increased risk of exploitation.
“From Microsoft’s limited description, it appears that if an attacker is able to send specially crafted packets over the network to the target device, they would have the ability to gain SYSTEM-level privileges on the target machine,” – Kev Breen
The new elevation of privilege vulnerability impacting Windows NTLM underscores a pervasive critical issue.
“The patch notes for this vulnerability state that ‘Improper authentication in Windows NTLM allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges over a network,’ suggesting an attacker may already need to have access to the NTLM hash or the user’s credentials,” – Source
This vulnerability can allow unauthorized remote access. The catch is that attackers might need inside knowledge or access upfront to be able to exploit it successfully.
Microsoft patched four vulnerabilities in BitLocker: CVE-2025-48003, CVE-2025-48800, CVE-2025-48804, and CVE-2025-48818, each with a CVSS score of 6.8. Successful exploitation would enable an attacker—given physical access—to bypass BitLocker protections and thus have access to valuable, encrypted data.
“To further enhance the security of BitLocker, we recommend enabling TPM+PIN for pre-boot authentication,” – Netanel Ben Simon and Alon Leviev
This recommendation underscores the role that multi-factor authentication mechanisms play in protecting sensitive information from future leaks and hacks.
The Impact of Browser Vulnerabilities
Microsoft’s Chromium-based Edge browser also received attention in this update, with 12 vulnerabilities addressed since August 2025’s Patch Tuesday update. One of these vulnerabilities, a security bypass bug (CVE-2025-53791), has already been patched in version 140.0.3485.54 of the browser. Security Risks This flaw presents security risks that would enable malicious, non-authenticated users to go around protections.
That’s quite a high number, since overall statistics show that it’s almost half (47.5%) of all bugs patched this month are privilege escalation vulnerabilities. This unfortunate trend shows widespread concern among the most knowledgeable security experts about how many of these vulnerabilities exist in Microsoft’s ecosystem.
“For the third time this year, Microsoft patched more elevation of privilege vulnerabilities than remote code execution flaws,” – Satnam Narang
This comment draws attention to the difficult road ahead for Microsoft as it continues to try and harden its software against the building sophistication of cyber threats.
Comprehensive Security Measures and Recommendations
Microsoft’s massive patch cycle last month has highlighted the need for proactive patching and security in general. Beyond patching identified vulnerabilities, Microsoft is calling on all users and administrators to follow general best practices when it comes to keeping systems secure.
“This gap opens the door to man-in-the-middle relay attacks, where attackers can capture and forward authentication material to gain unauthorized access,” – Mike Walters
Microsoft advises deploying advanced auditing features to harden SMB servers against exploitable attacks. They recommend running proactive configuration reviews to harden systems from known threats.
Microsoft recommends enabling secure boot mechanisms to thwart downgrade attacks that might otherwise bring back such vulnerabilities.
“To mitigate BitLocker downgrade attacks, we advise enabling the REVISE mitigation. This mechanism enforces secure versioning across critical boot components,” – Microsoft
With these practices in place and patches applied as they are released, organizations will be more protected from these and other new threats on the horizon.