Summary
Impact: Remote Code Execution. Microsoft rating: Important. Not known to be exploited — Exploitation Less Likely. Customer action: Required.
Details
According to the CVSS metric, the attack vector is local (AV:L). Why does the CVE title indicate that this is a remote code execution?
The word Remote in the title refers to the location of the attacker. This type of exploit is sometimes referred to as Arbitrary Code Execution (ACE). The attack itself is carried out locally. This means an attacker or victim needs to execute code from the local machine to exploit the vulnerability.
According to the CVSS metric, privileges required is low (PR:L). What does that mean for this vulnerability?
Any authenticated attacker could trigger this vulnerability. It does not require admin or other elevated privileges.
Is the Preview Pane an attack vector for this vulnerability?
No, the Preview Pane is not an attack vector.
Security updates
10.0.17763.6775 — https://support.microsoft.com/help/5050008
10.0.20348.3091 — https://support.microsoft.com/help/5049983
10.0.19044.5371 — https://support.microsoft.com/help/5049981
10.0.22621.4751 — https://support.microsoft.com/help/5050021
10.0.26100.2894 — https://support.microsoft.com/help/5050009
10.0.25398.1369 — https://support.microsoft.com/help/5049984
10.0.10240.20890 — https://support.microsoft.com/help/5050013
10.0.14393.7699 — https://support.microsoft.com/help/5049993
6.0.6003.23070 — https://support.microsoft.com/help/5050063
6.0.6003.23070 — https://support.microsoft.com/help/5050061
6.1.7601.27520 — https://support.microsoft.com/help/5050049
6.1.7601.27520 — https://support.microsoft.com/help/5050006
6.2.9200.25273 — https://support.microsoft.com/help/5050004
6.3.9600.22371 — https://support.microsoft.com/help/5050048
16.93.25011212 — https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?linkid=831049
2.93.24123014 — https://apps.apple.com/us/app/microsoft-365-office/id541164041
16.0.18429.20000 — https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/113412?hl=en
16.0.14326.22175 — https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/account-billing/get-updates-for-apps-and-games-in-microsoft-store-a1fe19c0-532d-ec47-7035-d1c5a1dd464f
Vulnerabilities 1
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High 7.8
GDI+ Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
GDI+ Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
Revision history
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#2
Added an FAQ to indicate that the Preview Pane is not affected for this CVE. This is an informational change only.
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#1
Information published.
References
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CVE-2025-21338 Windows GDI+ Remote Code Execution Vulnerability - HTML
https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2025-21338
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Microsoft Exploitability Index
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/msrc/exploitability-index?rtc=1
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Microsoft Support Lifecycle
https://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle
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Common Vulnerability Scoring System
https://www.first.org/cvss