Microsoft's Patch Tuesday on March 11, 2025, presented a typical suite of bug fixes, but it soon became clear that one particular vulnerability they rated "less likely" to be exploited was being weaponized aggressively by attackers. This flaw, identified as CVE-2025-24054, involves an NTLM (NT LAN Manager) hash-leaking vulnerability that quickly turned into a significant threat against governmental and private sector targets in Eastern Europe, specifically Poland and Romania.
The exploit is particularly insidious because it abuses the way Windows handles certain file types, leaking Net-NTLMv2 or NTLMv2-SSP hashes over the network with minimal user interaction. Attackers launched a spear-phishing campaign where victims were lured into downloading a Dropbox-hosted ZIP archive named xd.zip. Inside, the archive contained a crafted .library-ms file that exploited the CVE-2025-24054 vulnerability. What’s alarming is the low bar for triggering the leak: simply unzipping the archive or even viewing the folder in Windows Explorer was enough to cause the outbound SMB authentication attempt, disclosing the victim’s NTLM hash to a remote malicious server.
This type of leak isn't just data exposure; it paves the way for further attacks such as offline brute-forcing of the stolen hashes or relay attacks, where attackers can impersonate legitimate users and gain unauthorized access to network resources. The stolen credentials were observed being sent to multiple attacker-controlled SMB servers spanning Russia, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Australia, and Turkey—a geographic spread suggesting a coordinated and widespread campaign targeting NTLM hashes for later exploitation.
Cybersecurity researchers from Check Point point to evidence linking one of the exfiltration targets, IP address 159.196.128[.]120, to the notorious APT28 hacking group, also known as Fancy Bear, believed to be backed by the Russian government. Although the association lacks irrefutable proof, the pattern—combined with the targeted nature of the attacks—raises flags about state-level cyber espionage or sabotage efforts aligning with geopolitical interests.
The campaign escalated rapidly; by March 25, attackers had shifted from sending compressed ZIP archives to distributing standalone .library-ms files directly to recipients via email. Microsoft advised that exploiting this bug requires very little interaction beyond selecting (single-clicking) or inspecting (right-clicking) the file in Windows Explorer, which dramatically increases its potency as a weapon and the urgency for users and organizations to deploy patches.
Underlying the attack is a poignant reminder: the NTLM protocol, despite its long utility for authentication within Windows environments, remains a fragile and outdated mechanism easily abused by modern attackers. Microsoft itself has acknowledged NTLM’s obsolescence, encouraging users to migrate towards more secure alternatives like Kerberos, but NTLM’s deep-seated presence in legacy systems and corporate networks means eradication is a slow process vulnerable to such exploits.
While Microsoft grappled with this wildfire, Apple was simultaneously wrestling with critical issues of its own. Just days after Microsoft’s problematic patch rollout, Apple released updates iOS 18.4.1 and iPadOS 18.4.1, targeting two zero-day vulnerabilities actively exploited in sophisticated attacks against select individuals.
The first Apple vulnerability involves a memory corruption flaw in CoreAudio, the subsystem responsible for processing audio streams. Collaboratively uncovered by Apple and Google’s Threat Analysis Group, this vulnerability allows arbitrary code execution upon processing a maliciously crafted media file. What makes this extraordinary is the collaborative intelligence from multiple major tech companies pinpointing the attack, highlighting the increasing sophistication and cross-platform nature of modern cyber threats.
Apple’s second critical fix concerns the Return Pointer Authentication Code (RPAC), a security mechanism designed to protect pointer integrity and prevent certain exploits that rely on pointer manipulation. Attackers with arbitrary read and write abilities could bypass this line of defense, potentially escalating their capabilities to compromise devices fully. Apple’s mitigation involved removing the vulnerable RPAC implementation entirely to close this loophole.
The parallel patch cycles between Microsoft and Apple underscore a universal truth in modern IT security: attackers waste no time exploiting even the smallest crack in defenses, and organizations must respond even faster. The rapid weaponization of Microsoft’s CVE-2025-24054, despite being rated as a “less likely” exploit initially, demonstrates the perils of misjudging threat landscapes and the relentless arms race between defenders and malicious actors.
Digging deeper, CVE-2025-24054’s exploitation methodology reveals an alarming ease of execution. Attackers use social engineering to trick users into interacting with seemingly innocuous files. The exploit’s ability to trigger credential leakage with minimal user input—sometimes just viewing a folder—makes it especially dangerous in environments where users frequently share files or open network folders.
Check Point’s analysis points out that the stolen NTLM hashes can facilitate “pass-the-hash” attacks, allowing attackers to bypass normal authentication mechanisms and impersonate legitimate users on networks. This can lead to widespread lateral movement, data exfiltration, or further planting of backdoors. The simplicity and effectiveness of this attack vector place immense pressure on system administrators to rapidly apply patches and reevaluate their use of legacy authentication technologies.
This incident also raises broader operational questions about patch management strategies. Despite Patch Tuesday’s predictability, the speed at which adversaries exploit vulnerabilities post-release challenges organizations, especially those with large, distributed or slow-moving IT infrastructures, to shorten the window between patch availability and deployment. The risk here is not abstract: exploited NTLM hashes directly translate into compromised credentials, often the keys to an organization’s digital kingdom.
On the Apple front, the active zero-days fixed in the recent iOS and iPadOS patches highlight the increasingly targeted nature of cyber espionage attacks against individuals rather than broad-based malware campaigns. Attacks involving CoreAudio memory corruption and circumvention of pointer authentication safeguards reveal that adversaries invest heavily in identifying and exploiting low-level operating system flaws, which often lead to higher privilege compromises or device control.
The coordinated disclosures and fixes by both Apple and Google’s security teams for the CoreAudio flaw notably reflect a maturing ecosystem where different vendors collaborate to enhance safety and share intelligence. This unified front is essential as attackers frequently use complex, multi-vector attacks that span platforms and exploit chains.
This convergence of high-profile patches in April 2025 from the tech giants Microsoft and Apple demonstrates the tightly interwoven challenges of modern cybersecurity. On one hand, legacy systems and protocols still permeate business environments, leaving gaping vulnerabilities like CVE-2025-24054 that attackers rapidly weaponize. On the other hand, advancing platforms such as iOS face never-ending pressure from stealthy, high-skill threat actors targeting isolated individuals through zero-days, demanding continuous vigilance and swift countermeasures.
For Windows administrators and individual users, the takeaway is clear: immediacy in deploying patches is critical. Organizations should assess their dependency on NTLM and accelerate shifts towards more secure authentication protocols like Kerberos while closely monitoring network traffic for anomalous SMB authentication attempts. Likewise, Apple users should promptly update to the latest iOS and iPadOS versions to guard against sophisticated threats targeting CoreAudio and pointer authentication code.
Holistically, these incidents underline an evolving cybersecurity landscape where legacy and cutting-edge meet turbulence—legacy technologies sowing fertile ground for mass exploitation, while emerging systems contend with precision strikes from hostile entities. The convergence mandates a defense-in-depth approach combining rapid patch management, user education on phishing awareness, robust network segmentation, and adoption of modern authentication frameworks.
The lessons teeter on urgency: patches saved, hashes protected, access denied. In the relentless cat-and-mouse game of cybersecurity, staying ahead requires meticulous attention to seemingly small vulnerabilities—because attackers are always ready to turn “less likely” into a full-blown crisis.
This patch cycle’s unfolding saga is a vivid reminder to enterprises and users alike: the smallest exploit today can be the gateway to tomorrow’s data breach or espionage campaign. In an era where digital security forms the backbone of trust and business continuity, neither complacency nor delay is affordable.
Microsoft's focus on legacy protocol weaknesses, combined with Apple’s mitigation of covert zero-days, sets a dual precedent emphasizing the imperative to remain both retrospective and forward-looking in cybersecurity strategy—closing old doors while shoring up defenses against new, cunning threats .
Source: Eight days from patch to exploitation for Microsoft flaw
