CVE-2025-14405 PDFsam Enhanced Uncontrolled Search Path Element Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

Medium 6.6 Published 23 Dec 2025 Updated 30 Dec 2025

A local attacker can escalate privileges to SYSTEM by mounting a malicious drive, exploiting an unsecured OpenSSL configuration file load path.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Any signed-in user
Attackable: Local or same network only
Victim action needed: Not needed
Fix: None listed

What is CVE-2025-14405?

CVE-2025-14405 is a medium-severity vulnerability in PDFsam Enhanced, published on 23 Dec 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

Official description

PDFsam Enhanced Uncontrolled Search Path Element Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows phyiscally-present attackers to escalate privileges on affected installations of PDFsam Enhanced. An attacker must first obtain the ability to mount a malicious drive onto the target system in order to exploit this vulnerability.

The specific flaw exists within the configuration of OpenSSL. The product loads an OpenSSL configuration file from an unsecured location. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to escalate privileges and execute arbitrary code in the context of SYSTEM. Was ZDI-CAN-27867.

Weakness: CWE-427

Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-14405?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Pdfsam Enhanced.

How do I fix CVE-2025-14405?

No fix has been published for CVE-2025-14405 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

Is CVE-2025-14405 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-14405 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Sources

Also known as GHSA-8x2p-mrrr-2rf4.