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High · 7.0 Public exploit CVE-2025-9491 EUVD-2025-28860GHSA-6rf6-f9qg-8v94

Microsoft Windows LNK File UI Misrepresentation Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Published Aug 26, 2025 · Updated Dec 5, 2025 · Assigned by zdi

Vendor: Microsoft Product: Windows Platform: Windows

Description

Microsoft Windows LNK File UI Misrepresentation Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of Microsoft Windows. User interaction is required to exploit this vulnerability in that the target must visit a malicious page or open a malicious file.

The specific flaw exists within the handling of .LNK files. Crafted data in an .LNK file can cause hazardous content in the file to be invisible to a user who inspects the file via the Windows-provided user interface. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of the current user. Was ZDI-CAN-25373.

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
Microsoft Windows 11 Enterprise 23H2 22631.4169 x64 —

Public exploits

Exploit or proof-of-concept code for this vulnerability is publicly available, which lowers the bar for attackers. Treat it as a reason to patch sooner.

Third-party code, not reviewed by us. Public PoCs are sometimes fake or contain malware. Read the code first and run it only in an isolated lab, against systems you are authorised to test.

GitHub 1 repository

  • Amperclock/CVE-2025-9491_POC ★ 19 · Nov 7, 2025

    Proof-of-Concept of the CVE-2025-9491 using invisible characters in the arguments of a Windows shortcut file (.lnk)

Sources: PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit Framework, Exploit-DB — updated daily. Only links are listed; no exploit code is hosted here.

Advisories 1

References