SharePoint: Microsoft SharePoint code injection and privilege escalation (CVE-2025-49704) #shorts
Summary
Welcome to our security podcast. In this episode, we cover CVE-2025-49704, a recently disclosed code injection vulnerability in Microsoft SharePoint that allows an authenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code over the network and potentially escalate privileges.
Product details
This flaw affects on-premise installations of Microsoft SharePoint Enterprise Server 2016 (versions before 16.0.5508.1000) and SharePoint Server 2019 (versions before 16.0.10417.20027). These editions are commonly used in enterprise intranet and collaboration environments.
Vulnerability type summary
CVE-2025-49704 is classified under CWE-94: Improper Control of Generation of Code, also known as code injection. This vulnerability arises when unsanitized input influences internal code paths, enabling attackers to inject and execute malicious code.
Details of the vulnerability
An authorized user with valid SharePoint credentials can exploit the vulnerability by sending specially crafted requests that abuse the server’s code generation routines. The injection point resides in data fields not properly validated before being compiled or interpreted. Exploitation can lead to remote code execution, privilege escalation, data exfiltration, and full system compromise. Microsoft published a patch on July 8, 2025, with updates through early August. The US CISA has also highlighted this and related SharePoint flaws (CVE-2025-49706, CVE-2025-53770, CVE-2025-53771) as part of ongoing threat activity against enterprise collaboration platforms.
Conclusion
If you run SharePoint Enterprise Server 2016 or Server 2019 on-premise, apply Microsoft’s July 2025 security updates immediately to remediate CVE-2025-49704. Review administrator privileges, enforce least-privilege access, monitor logs for suspicious requests, and maintain a robust patch management process to guard against future code injection attacks.
Watch the full video on YouTube: CVE-2025-49704
Remediation and exploitation details
This chain involves the following actors
- Authorized attacker: low-privilege user or compromised account
- System administrator: infrastructure manager responsible for patching
This following systems are involved
- SharePoint Enterprise Server 2016 (collaboration and document management): host for web parts, pages and file repositories
- SharePoint Server 2019 (collaboration and document management): host for web parts, pages and file repositories
Attack entry point
- code injection vector: improper filtering of user-supplied script or web part markup during page generation
Remediation actions
Exploitation actions
upload injection payload via web interface or application programming interface
- Create a custom .aspx page that embeds PowerShell commands
access the crafted URL over HTTP to invoke server-side rendering
- Navigate to https://victim/_layouts/15/malicious.aspx to execute the payload
use the injected script to open an outbound connection
- Invoke PowerShell Invoke-WebRequest to fetch a second-stage binary
abuse unpatched service configuration to run code as a higher-privilege account
- Hijack a Windows service to execute the payload as Local System
Related Content
NOTE: The following related content has not been vetted and may be unsafe.
- https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2025-49704
- [2025-07-08] Microsoft SharePoint vulnerability CVE-2025-49704 allows for privilege escalation through unknown data manipulation.
- [2025-07-22] Microsoft SharePoint contains a code injection vulnerability that could allow an authorized attacker to execute code over a network.
- [2025-08-06] CISA reports on exploitation of Microsoft SharePoint vulnerabilities, including CVE-2025-49704, CVE-2025-49706, CVE-2025-53770, and CVE-2025-53771.