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Introduction: The Expanding Cybersecurity Battlefield
In today’s rapidly evolving digital world, software platforms form the foundation of global business operations. But when these platforms harbor critical vulnerabilities, the risk extends far beyond mere system downtime—it threatens sensitive data, corporate reputation, and even national infrastructure. Recently, several high-profile security flaws have come to light across major platforms like ServiceNow, Lenovo’s TrackPoint Quick Menu software, and Microsoft Windows. These vulnerabilities, though distinct in nature, collectively highlight a concerning trend: attackers are increasingly targeting foundational systems using simple yet highly effective exploitation methods.
This article delves into the recently disclosed CVEs, focusing primarily on the severe data inference vulnerability in ServiceNow’s Now Platform. We will unpack the technical underpinnings of these flaws, the risks posed, and the industry responses. Additionally, we’ll present an analytical commentary on the implications and prevention strategies, followed by fact-checker results ✅❌ and predictions 🔮 for what lies ahead in cybersecurity.
The Breakdown: the Latest Vulnerability Reports
A new critical vulnerability—CVE-2025-3648—has been discovered in ServiceNow’s Now Platform. Nicknamed Count(er) Strike, this flaw has earned a CVSS severity score of 8.2. It’s rooted in how ServiceNow uses conditional Access Control List (ACL) rules to restrict access to sensitive data. In certain misconfigured scenarios, both authenticated and unauthenticated users can infer protected data using range-based query requests. This makes it possible for attackers to deduce the existence or characteristics of data without directly accessing it.
The vulnerability was reported by cybersecurity firm Varonis in February 2024 and is particularly dangerous due to its simplicity. The flaw lies in the UI element that displays record counts. Malicious actors could exploit this to determine whether specific data exists, even if direct access is denied. This affects a wide range of tables across all ServiceNow instances, especially those with misconfigured ACLs or empty role conditions. Even anonymous users or those with low privileges could potentially trigger this attack.
The attack vector leverages the behavior of ACL evaluations in ServiceNow. These conditions—roles, security attributes, data condition, and script condition—are processed in sequence. If any of the first two conditions (roles or attributes) are left open or misconfigured, an attacker can use error message differences to infer data conditions and script outcomes. These differences reveal whether a table exists, contains rows, or meets specific criteria. This opens a door to enumeration attacks, enabling attackers to gather critical data from the backend.
To mitigate the threat, ServiceNow has rolled out several new features: Deny-Unless ACLs, Query ACLs, and Security Data Filters. These improvements are designed to shut down the inference channel by enforcing stricter controls and limiting the exposure of record count metadata. ServiceNow customers are urged to review and apply these updates immediately. In the future, range Query ACLs will default to a deny status unless explicitly allowed.
Two additional vulnerabilities have also surfaced:
Lenovo’s TrackPoint Quick Menu Software contains CVE-2025-1729, a DLL hijacking flaw that enables privilege escalation. A user can drop a malicious DLL file (hostfxr.dll) into a writable directory, causing it to be loaded when the executable runs.
Microsoft’s CVE-2025-47978, dubbed NOTLogon, is an out-of-bounds read bug in the Windows Kerberos Netlogon protocol. Exploiting this allows even low-privileged machines to remotely crash domain controllers, disrupting Active Directory.
What Undercode Say: Analytical Perspective on the Implications
Weak ACLs Open Wide Doors
Access Control Lists are designed to be the digital gatekeepers of sensitive information. However, in ServiceNow’s case, it becomes evident that overly permissive configurations or empty ACL rules can unintentionally grant significant insight into protected data. This isn’t just a bug—it’s a visibility loophole.
The Simplicity of the Exploit Raises Concerns
Unlike sophisticated buffer overflows or chained exploits, Count(er) Strike requires minimal technical skill. An attacker with basic scripting capabilities and access to one misconfigured table can launch an enumeration attack. This democratizes exploitation, lowering the bar for threat actors.
Self-Registration: The Trojan Horse
Self-registration features, often used to streamline onboarding, can ironically become entry points for abuse. If misconfigured, these features let attackers create accounts and use them to scan the entire ACL landscape of a ServiceNow instance—without triggering alarms.
Impact Beyond the Initial Instance
Through dot-walking and reference relationships, attackers can move laterally across tables. A seemingly isolated misconfiguration can expose vast amounts of organizational data—PII, credentials, audit logs, financial records—all vulnerable to exfiltration.
Lenovo’s Exploit: Classic but Deadly
DLL hijacking has been around for years, but its effectiveness hasn’t waned. Lenovo’s oversight in allowing writable permissions in the binary folder is a stark reminder that even legacy vulnerabilities can have modern consequences.
Microsoft’s Kerberos Flaw and Active Directory Risk
With NOTLogon, the exploit doesn’t require privilege escalation. The ability to crash a domain controller simply through a malformed authentication request could paralyze enterprise environments and disrupt authentication across the board. Given Active Directory’s central role, this flaw is a ticking time bomb for any enterprise not immediately applying patches.
Common Theme: Foundation-Level Threats
What ties all three vulnerabilities together is that they don’t target flashy front-ends or user-visible layers—they attack the foundation. ServiceNow’s backend ACL logic, Lenovo’s system utilities, and Microsoft’s domain services are essential to business operations. Breaching these layers means undermining the entire IT stack.
Prevention Through Secure Defaults
Vendors must adopt a “secure-by-default” stance. Leaving critical configurations open (like empty ACL roles or writable directories) is no longer acceptable. Organizations should assume every exposed surface is an attack surface.
✅ Fact Checker Results
✅ CVE-2025-3648 in ServiceNow was officially disclosed and confirmed by ServiceNow and Varonis.
✅ DLL Hijack CVE-2025-1729 is validated with
✅ NOTLogon (CVE-2025-47978) is publicly documented, and Microsoft addressed it during July’s Patch Tuesday.
🔮 Prediction: What’s Next in Cybersecurity?
🔮 Rise in Enumeration Attacks: As inference-style exploits gain attention, attackers will increasingly target platforms with poorly configured permissions.
🔮 Self-Service Features Under Scrutiny: Expect tighter security around self-registration and anonymous access capabilities.
🔮 ACL Auditing Becomes Essential: Organizations will adopt automated tools to continuously audit and validate ACL configurations for anomalies.
By dissecting these critical vulnerabilities and understanding their impact, organizations can better prepare for the evolving cybersecurity landscape. Vigilance, secure configurations, and timely patching are now more crucial than ever.
References:
Reported By: thehackernews.com
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