Sentra CTO Warns CVE-2025-53770 Breach Puts Organizations’ Most Sensitive Data at Risk

CVE-2025-53770 has quickly become one of the most damaging vulnerabilities in recent memory, affecting more than 400 organizations worldwide, including critical U.S. government agencies. In this interview, Ron Reiter, CTO and co-founder of Sentra, explains why this SharePoint flaw stands apart from other exploits. He shares how attackers are leveraging the ToolShell malware framework to bypass patches and gain access to organizations’ most sensitive data.

How does CVE-2025-53770 stand out from other commonly exploited vulnerabilities? 

This vulnerability doesn’t just compromise infrastructure; it compromises trust. It extends beyond threat actors gaining access to a single server. When adversaries break into SharePoint, they’re getting access to contracts, financials, customer records and even source code — the very data that defines an organization’s operations. Unlike other vulnerabilities that affect systems in isolation,  this one has far-reaching consequences for business continuity, regulatory compliance, and reputation. It has the potential to erode confidence amongst customers, partners and stakeholders who expect organizations to keep their data safe. 

What kind of data fallout are we seeing from the breach, and what are the broader implications for the security community?

So far, more than 400 organizations have been impacted by the SharePoint vulnerability, including several U.S. government agencies like the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Unfortunately, when threat actors actively exploit the weakness, they get a direct path to organizations’ crown jewel data. 

Some of the consequences include: 

• Compromised machine keys can let attackers impersonate any user and exfiltrate sensitive data at scale 

• Even if organizations patch quickly, every document the attacker touched is already outside of the security team’s control 

• Compliance regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, SOX and the new AI-safety rules all require provable evidence of what data was accessed and when 

• Access to sensitive government systems and critical infrastructure opens the door for further escalation, including cyber-espionage or geopolitical leverage 

Security teams need more visibility into what was exposed, how sensitive it was, and what needs to be done to contain the fallout. Without this information, adversaries can continue to launch more campaigns against high-value targets, reuse compromised credentials and exploit the same blind spots over and over again. 

Why is simply patching no longer enough to protect against these types of attacks?

Attackers used the malware framework ToolShell to exploit CVE-2025-53770. ToolShell was a new exploit chain that was built upon previously patched vulnerabilities and bypassed the earlier fixes entirely. This means that even if organizations followed best practices and patched quickly, they might still be vulnerable. After gaining initial access, the attackers were able to chain together multiple flaws and escalate privileges. By the time Microsoft issued emergency fixes, attackers had already taken advantage. 

Patching is reactive. It may address the vulnerability, but not the fallout. Once attackers are inside, patches can’t revoke stolen credentials or tell you what data was accessed, by who and when. Defenders need this visibility. Without it, adversaries can easily remain lurking in the background. 

What are the top three things organizations should be doing right now to minimize damage and prevent similar breaches?

First, organizations need complete visibility into all of their data. That means knowing exactly where sensitive data assets like PII, PHI, intellectual property and AI model weights reside, both on-premises and in the cloud. There cannot be any blind spots for attackers to exploit. With that visibility, security teams can identify which data is exposed on vulnerable servers, open to the public or subject to excessive permissions. 

Next, real-time threat detection is essential. Security teams should be able to instantly flag unusual access to sensitive data and intervene before risks escalate into breaches. Alerts need to integrate seamlessly into existing workflows for fast, impactful response. 

Finally, security teams should be adopting tools that provide attacker-resilience risk scoring. These systems can quantify risks, like SharePoint misconfigurations, in terms of dollar-value impact and compliance posture. With this, security teams can offer clear, actionable insight for board reporting after high-profile vulnerabilities are disclosed.