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IDE Irony: Coding Errors Cause 'Critical' Vulnerability in Visual Studio
Microsoft's first Patch Tuesday of 2025 is larger than normal, with the company addressing 159 vulnerabilities, including eight zero-day flaws, three of which have been actively exploited in the wild.
What's more, the company warned of a "critical" vulnerability in Visual Studio that should be fixed immediately if automatic patching isn't enabled.
"Once the eight zero-day items are patched, it's recommended that IT that does not have auto patching enabled tackle the 11 bulletin items rated 'critical,' " explained Chris Paoli in the RedmondMag recap of Patch Tuesday. "Microsoft defines critical bulletins as those that would have a major impact on an environment, if exploited by attackers."
Of the 11 critical items, one is CVE-2025-21178, a Visual Studio Remote Code Execution Vulnerability that if exploited could allow an attacker to run malicious code on a user's computer.
[Click on image for larger view.] CVE-2025-21178 (source: Microsoft).
The upshot is that, while this is a serious vulnerability, it is unlikely to be exploited unless a user is tricked into opening a malicious file in Visual Studio. Updating your software and being cautious with untrusted files are the best ways to stay protected.
Here are all the details you need to know about the CVE that affects coders, which interestingly was apparently caused by poor coding.
Cause of the Vulnerability
The issue is linked to two technical weaknesses:
Severity
- The vulnerability has a CVSS score of 8.8, which is considered High, but the maximum severity is rated Important by Microsoft.
- Exploitation is less likely, and there are no current reports of it being publicly disclosed or exploited.
Attack Scenario
- User Interaction Required: An attacker would need to convince a user to open a maliciously crafted package file in Visual Studio. For example, a developer might unknowingly open such a file from an untrusted source.
- No Special Privileges Needed: The attacker does not require admin access to exploit this flaw.
Impact
If successful, an attacker could compromise Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability, giving them control over the system.
Affected Versions
The vulnerability affects multiple versions of Visual Studio:
- Visual Studio 2022: Versions 17.6 to 17.12
- Visual Studio 2019: Version 16.11
- Visual Studio 2017: Version 15.9
Mitigation
To protect your system:
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Update Visual Studio:
- Apply the security updates released on Jan. 14, 2025, for the affected versions.
- Download the updates from the provided links in the advisory or through Visual Studio's update mechanism.
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Avoid Suspicious Files:
- Do not open package files from untrusted sources or that seem suspicious.
About the Author
David Ramel is an editor and writer at Converge 360.