CVE-2017-8540highunder attackCWE-787

CVE-2017-8540: high-severity vulnerability in Microsoft Corporation Malware Protection Engine

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93Vexday Risk Score

Prioritize patching. It under exploitation confirmed by CISA and has a public proof of concept.

ssvc Actcvss 7.8epss 72%
from disclosure to weapon4 days
Published on NVDMay 26
1st PoC+4d
CISA KEV+1742d
Action required by CISAfederal deadline: 2022-03-24

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In short

A flaw in Microsoft's antivirus engine (Malware Protection Engine) fails to properly scan specially crafted files, which can cause memory corruption and allow an attacker to run malicious code remotely on affected systems.

Technical detail

The Microsoft Malware Protection Engine improperly handles crafted files during scanning, leading to out-of-bounds write (CWE-787) and memory corruption. Attack vector is local/network via a malicious file; requires the engine to scan the file. Impact includes remote code execution with system privileges on Windows and Exchange Server systems.

Summary generated and translated by AI from the official description.

The full analysis of this CVE is available in Portuguese →

The Microsoft Malware Protection Engine running on Microsoft Forefront and Microsoft Defender on Microsoft Windows Server 2008 SP2 and R2 SP1, Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 Gold and R2, Windows RT 8.1, Windows 10 Gold, 1511, 1607, and 1703, and Windows Server 2016, Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 and 2016, does not properly scan a specially crafted file leading to memory corruption. aka "Microsoft Malware Protection Engine Remote Code Execution Vulnerability", a different vulnerability than CVE-2017-8538 and CVE-2017-8541.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Affected products
Microsoft Corporation · Malware Protection Engine
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Related CVEs — Microsoft Corporation Malware Protection Engine

In the same product, most dangerous first.

CVE-2017-8538—CVE-2017-8538EPSS 50.0%CVE-2017-8541—CVE-2017-8541EPSS 48.1%CVE-2017-8537—CVE-2017-8537EPSS 16.8%CVE-2017-8536—CVE-2017-8536EPSS 16.8%CVE-2017-8535—CVE-2017-8535EPSS 16.8%CVE-2017-8539—CVE-2017-8539EPSS 6.0%