CVE-2025-47997: SQL Server Race Condition Info-Disclosure — Patch Now

Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC) advisory describes CVE-2025-47997 as a concurrency (race‑condition) information‑disclosure flaw in Microsoft SQL Server that can be triggered by an authorized user and may allow sensitive memory or data to be leaked over the network; administrators should treat the advisory as authoritative, verify affected builds in their estate, and apply vendor-supplied updates immediately.

Background / Overview​

Microsoft’s update guide entry for CVE-2025-47997 identifies the root cause as concurrent execution using a shared resource with improper synchronization (a race condition) inside SQL Server. That class of bug typically allows two or more threads to access and modify the same internal state without correct coordination, producing windows in which privileged internal data can be read or returned to a caller that should not see it. The net effect for SQL Server is an information‑disclosure condition: an authorized account that can run queries or connect to a vulnerable handler may receive data from memory that was not intended for the caller. Operationally this matters because SQL Server often:

• Hosts sensitive business data and secrets (connection strings, tokens).
• Runs under service accounts with broad privileges.
• Is trusted by other systems and applications on the network.

When a leak like this is possible, exposure can be limited to SQL‑level objects or, if combined with other flaws, escalate to credential theft or host‑level compromise. Multiple independent mid‑2025 advisories and vendor writeups covering SQL Server grouped information‑disclosure, privilege‑escalation, and memory‑corruption fixes into the same patch cycle, underscoring that these classes of bugs are often related and can be chained in real incidents.

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What the advisory says (concise technical summary)​

• Vulnerability type: Information disclosure due to race condition / improper synchronization in SQL Server internals.
• Attack vector: Network — the vulnerability is exploitable over the wire by an account that can interact with the vulnerable SQL Server surface.
• Attacker privileges: Authorized (requires some SQL login or an account able to send the relevant requests), which lowers the bar in environments where application/service accounts or third‑party integrations hold credentials.
• Impact: Disclosure of memory or sensitive data; disclosure may enable follow‑on steps like credential harvesting or privilege escalation when chained with other vulnerabilities.

Important verification note: the MSRC entry you provided is the canonical vendor statement for this CVE and must be consulted for the exact list of affected builds and KB patch identifiers. Public CVE indexes and vendor trackers sometimes lag or index similar SQL Server CVEs (for example, CVE‑2025‑49717/49718/49719 in the same July 2025 patch cycle), so cross‑mapping MSRC → KB → build is the safest path for remediation.

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Why a race condition in a database engine is dangerous​

Race conditions in complex server software like SQL Server can expose data that sits in memory buffers during legitimate operations. Unlike classic SQL injection or broken authentication, concurrency bugs:

• Can leak uninitialized memory or data from other sessions without directly executing attacker-supplied SQL.
• May be triggered by carefully timed, legitimate‑looking operations rather than obviously malicious payloads.
• Are often non‑deterministic and harder to detect in testing (they depend on timing), which increases the chance the bug persisted unnoticed in production builds.

Real‑world consequences include exposure of connection strings, credentials, encryption keys, query results from other sessions, and internal state that can be used in follow‑on attacks such as lateral movement or ransomware staging. The July 2025 patch cycle demonstrated how information disclosure, buffer overflows, and EoP (elevation of privilege) issues in SQL Server frequently appear together and should be treated as a single operational priority.

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Cross‑verification and the CVE identifier ambiguity​

A careful cross‑check of public trackers reveals a practical problem administrators face during fast patch cycles: the same vendor update window may include multiple related CVEs and occasionally CVE identifiers appear differently across feeds. Microsoft’s MSRC entry you linked is authoritative for CVE‑2025‑47997, but third‑party summaries of the same patch window prominently list CVE‑2025‑49717, CVE‑2025‑49718 and CVE‑2025‑49719 as the SQL Server fixes released on July 8, 2025. That means:

• Use the MSRC advisory and Microsoft KB pages first to map CVE → KB → exact fixed builds for your SQL Server versions. (msrc.microsoft.com, helpnetsecurity.com, support.microsoft.com, balbix.com, msrc.microsoft.com, msrc.microsoft.com, msrc.microsoft.com, Security Update Guide - Microsoft Security Response Center