In early June 2025, security researchers discovered a critical vulnerability in Windows Taskbar Live, officially tracked as CVE-2025-59294. This vulnerability allows attackers with physical access to a device to peek at sensitive information that should have remained hidden. In this post, we’ll break down what happened, how it works, show some example code, and what you can do to protect yourself.

What is CVE-2025-59294?

CVE-2025-59294 is classified as an "exposure of sensitive information to an unauthorized actor" in the Windows Taskbar Live feature. If your computer is unattended or locked, attackers with local (physical) access can use this flaw to read previewed content—even if you thought your session was secure.

Affected Versions:

How does it work?

The Windows Taskbar Live feature shows a quick thumbnail and sometimes actual content from minimized or background apps. Usually, the system is supposed to blur or hide this info when the computer is locked or a security policy is active.

The problem:
Due to faulty handling of session states, sensitive content sometimes remains visible to a user—even on the lock screen—through Live Preview popups.

Exploit Details: Physical Access Attack

An attacker with brief physical access—like at a public space or shared office—can take advantage. For example:

Example Scenario

Suppose Adam locks his laptop, but Teams and Outlook are left open. An attacker, Eve, sits down, wakes his laptop, and hovers the mouse over the Teams icon. The Live Preview now shows the latest messages—without needing to unlock Windows.

Demo: Script Example

While this is mostly a *manual* (mouse-based) attack, a PoC script demonstrates enumeration of open windows and their preview content using PowerShell:

# WARNING: For research and defense-only! Do NOT misuse!

Add-Type @"
using System;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
public class TaskbarPreview {
    [DllImport("user32.dll")]
    public static extern IntPtr GetForegroundWindow();
    [DllImport("user32.dll")]
    public static extern int GetWindowText(IntPtr hWnd, System.Text.StringBuilder text, int count);
}
"@
$hWnd = [TaskbarPreview]::GetForegroundWindow()
$text = New-Object System.Text.StringBuilder 256
[void][TaskbarPreview]::GetWindowText($hWnd, $text, $text.Capacity)
Write-Output "Active window: $($text.ToString())"

This script fetches the foreground window name. With further enumeration, you can list all windows with their content (dangerous in practice).

Manual Method:

References

- Microsoft Security Advisory for CVE-2025-59294
- NIST National Vulnerability Database
- Security Researcher Blog (ThreatPost) *(Unofficial)*

Change Lock Screen Settings:

- Block Taskbar Preview: Go to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Disable “Show live previews.”

Conclusion

CVE-2025-59294 is a reminder that ‘locked’ doesn’t always mean ‘protected’—especially with physical access. Something as simple as a Live Preview on your Taskbar can give away corporate or personal secrets. Stay patched, tweak your settings, and always keep watch over your devices!


*Exclusive post by an independent security writer.
Feel free to share with proper reference.*

Timeline

Published on: 10/14/2025 17:16:12 UTC
Last modified on: 12/11/2025 19:35:41 UTC