
Urgent Response Required: CISA's Warning on Microsoft SharePoint Flaws
On July 22, 2025, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) took decisive action by adding two critical Microsoft SharePoint vulnerabilities—CVE-2025-49704 and CVE-2025-49706—to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog. The agency's move follows evidence of active exploitation linked to Chinese hacking groups, including Linen Typhoon and Violet Typhoon, who have been leveraging these flaws since July 7, 2025.
Understanding the Vulnerabilities: A Breakdown
These vulnerabilities comprise a spoofing flaw and a Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability, which, when exploited, enable unauthorized access to on-premise SharePoint servers. Specifically:
- CVE-2025-49704 - SharePoint Remote Code Execution
- CVE-2025-49706 - SharePoint Post-auth Remote Code Execution
These flaws expose systems to significant risks, compelling Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB) agencies to patch them by July 23, 2025.
The Technical Landscape: The Exploitation Chain
The exploitation chain includes CVE-2025-53770, which enables authentication bypass and remote code execution. This vulnerability, with an insecure deserialization root cause, is critical as it has shown proof of concept (PoC) exploits despite mitigation attempts like the Antimalware Scan Interface (AMSI).
Reflections from Security Experts
WatchTowr Labs has uncovered that they can exploit CVE-2025-53770 while bypassing AMSI, creating concerns for organizations relying solely on such mitigations. CEO Benjamin Harris emphasized, "This outcome was inevitable...it's naive to think nation-state actors wouldn’t find a way around protections like AMSI. Organizations must patch."
Why Timely Action is Crucial
With the stakes high and nation-state actors involved, the urgency for organizations to engage in immediate remediation cannot be overstated. CISA’s advisory highlights the importance of proactive measures in the face of evolving cyber threats, stressing that patching is an essential step for all organizations.
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