Introduction
Microsoft PowerPoint, a cornerstone of enterprise productivity, has become a prime target for attackers exploiting memory corruption vulnerabilities. CVE-2025-29978, a newly disclosed use-after-free flaw, underscores the critical need for robust memory management practices in widely-used applications. This vulnerability, rated at a CVSS score of 7.8, could enable attackers to execute arbitrary code locally, potentially compromising entire systems and facilitating lateral movement within corporate networks.
Affected Systems and Versions
The vulnerability specifically affects Microsoft PowerPoint across multiple supported versions. However, detailed version ranges and specific affected configurations have not been disclosed publicly at this time.
Technical Information
CVE-2025-29978 is classified as a use-after-free vulnerability (CWE-416), occurring due to improper handling of dynamic object pointers during the parsing of malicious PowerPoint files. The flaw manifests when PowerPoint fails to invalidate pointers after freeing memory blocks, allowing attackers to reuse these pointers maliciously. Attackers exploit this vulnerability by crafting PowerPoint files containing malicious OLE objects, corrupted animation sequences, or embedded scripts designed to manipulate heap allocations. This can lead to overwriting virtual function tables (vTables), redirecting execution flow to attacker-controlled shellcode. The local attack vector necessitates initial access via phishing or removable media but can result in significant privilege escalation.
Patch Information
Microsoft has addressed CVE-2025-29978 in its May 2025 security updates (KB5002695). Organizations should apply these updates immediately to all supported Office versions, including Microsoft 365 Apps, Office 2021, and Office 2019. The patch can be downloaded directly from Microsoft's official update guide here.
Detection Methods
Currently, specific technical detection methods, indicators of compromise, or log patterns have not been publicly disclosed for CVE-2025-29978.
Vendor Security History
Microsoft has historically faced numerous memory corruption vulnerabilities, particularly use-after-free and buffer overflow flaws. These vulnerabilities have frequently been targeted by threat actors due to their potential for high-impact exploitation. Microsoft's response time and patching practices have improved over recent years, yet memory safety remains an ongoing challenge.
