Summary
Impact: Security Feature Bypass. Microsoft rating: Important. Not known to be exploited — Exploitation More Likely. Customer action: Required.
Details
According to the CVSS metrics, successful exploitation of this vulnerability could lead to some loss of integrity (I:L) and some loss of availability (A:L). What does that mean for this vulnerability?
An attacker can craft a malicious file that would evade Mark of the Web (MOTW) defenses, resulting in a limited loss of integrity and availability of security features such as SmartScreen Application Reputation security check and/or the legacy Windows Attachment Services security prompt.
How could an attacker exploit the vulnerability?
To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker could host a file on an attacker-controlled server, then convince a targeted user to download and open the file. This could allow the attacker to interfere with the Mark of the Web functionality.
Please see Additional information about Mark of the Web for further clarification
Are the updates for Windows 10 for x64-based Systems and Windows 10 for 32-bit Systems currently available?
Yes. As of April 9, 2025, the security update (5055547) for Windows 10 for x64-based Systems and Windows 10 for 32-bit Systems are available. Customers running Windows 10 should ensure the update is installed to be protected from this vulnerability.
Security updates
10.0.10240.20978 — https://support.microsoft.com/help/5055547
6.2.9200.25423 — https://support.microsoft.com/help/5055581
6.3.9600.22523 — https://support.microsoft.com/help/5055557
Vulnerabilities 1
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Medium 5.4
Windows Mark of the Web Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability
Protection mechanism failure in Windows Mark of the Web (MOTW) allows an unauthorized attacker to bypass a security feature over a network.
Revision history
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#2
The security updates for Windows 10 for 32-bit Systems and Windows 10 for x64-based Systems are now available. See the Security Updates table for more information.
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#1
Information published.
References
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CVE-2025-27472 Windows Mark of the Web Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability - HTML
https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2025-27472
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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