The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has added a critical vulnerability affecting ASUS Live Update software to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog. This inclusion comes after CISA confirmed evidence of active exploitation of the flaw. The vulnerability poses a significant risk, particularly for users of ASUS products that rely on this update utility.

Understanding the ASUS Live Update Vulnerability

The identified flaw in ASUS Live Update permits privilege escalation. This means that a less privileged attacker, or malicious software, could exploit the vulnerability to gain higher levels of access on the affected system, potentially achieving administrative control. Such an escalation can lead to complete system compromise, allowing attackers to install malware, steal data, or further entrench themselves within a network. The confirmation of active exploitation by CISA highlights the severity and immediate danger of this vulnerability.

CISA’s Advisory and Mitigation Steps

CISA has mandated federal agencies to address this vulnerability, underscoring its critical nature. While specific patch details are typically provided by ASUS, the general recommendation for all users is to ensure their ASUS Live Update software is updated to the latest secure version. Organizations and individual users are strongly advised to review their systems for any indications of compromise and to apply all available security patches promptly to mitigate the risk posed by active exploitation.

Source: https://thehackernews.com/2025/12/cisa-flags-critical-asus-live-update.html