CVE-2010-0249
Use-after-free vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Explorer 6, 6 SP1, 7, and 8 on Windows 2000 SP4; Windows XP SP2 and SP3; Windows Server…
- 8.8HighCVSS base score
- 91.9%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 0.2% of all CVEs
- YesKnown exploitedin CISA's KEV since 20 May 2026
- 3Public exploitsMetasploit, Nuclei and Exploit-DB
Description
Use-after-free vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Explorer 6, 6 SP1, 7, and 8 on Windows 2000 SP4; Windows XP SP2 and SP3; Windows Server 2003 SP2; Windows Vista Gold, SP1, and SP2; Windows Server 2008 Gold, SP2, and R2; and Windows 7 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code by accessing a pointer associated with a deleted object, related to incorrectly initialized memory and improper handling of objects in memory, as exploited in the wild in December 2009 and January 2010 during Operation Aurora, aka "HTML Object Memory Corruption Vulnerability."
Exploited in the wild
CISA lists this vulnerability in its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog as Microsoft Internet Explorer Use-After-Free Vulnerability.
- Added
- 20 May 2026
- Fix due (US federal)
- 3 Jun 2026
- Used by ransomware
- Not known
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
ENISA's EU Vulnerability Database lists it as exploited, from CISA's KEV, since 20 May 2026.
Public exploit
An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. The public collections list a Metasploit module and 2 Exploit-DB entries for it. A reference of the record is tagged as an exploit. CISA's SSVC rates its exploitation: it is being exploited.
Show the exploits4
Metasploit modules1 module
- MS10-002 Microsoft Internet Explorer "Aurora" Memory Corruption (Metasploit module) (opens in a new tab)
exploit/windows/browser/ms10_002_auroraRank normaldisclosed 14 Jan 2010
Exploit-DB2 entries
- Microsoft Internet Explorer - 'Aurora' Memory Corruption (MS10-002) (Metasploit) (Exploit-DB entry) (opens in a new tab)
EDB-ID 16599remote, windowspublished 12 Jul 2010Verified
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 - 'Aurora' Memory Corruption (MS10-002) (Exploit-DB entry) (opens in a new tab)
EDB-ID 11167remote, windowspublished 17 Jan 2010Verified
References tagged exploit1 reference
- 11167 (opens in a new tab)exploitx_refsource_EXPLOIT-DBx_transferred
Modules, templates and exploits as listed by the Metasploit Framework (BSD-3-Clause), ProjectDiscovery's Nuclei templates (MIT) and the Exploit Database (GPLv2), read once a day. Where the data comes from
Timeline
ID reserved
By microsoft
- 8 days later
· 8 days later
Published
- 16 years later
· 16 years later
Added to CISA KEV
Known exploited in the wild
- 1 day later
· 1 day later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| CISA-ADPADP (enrichment) | 3.1 | High8.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| NVDNVD · Analyzed | 3.1 | High8.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 91.9% · top 0.2% of all CVEs (9 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: active · Automatable: no · Technical impact: total
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 8.8.
Affected products
n/a
- affected n/a
References
15
- http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/979352.mspx (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
- oval:org.mitre.oval:def:6835 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entrysignaturex_refsource_OVALx_transferred
- 61697 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_OSVDBx_transferred
- 37815 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_BIDx_transferred
- VU#492515 (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisoryx_refsource_CERT-VNx_transferred
- 11167 (opens in a new tab)exploitx_refsource_EXPLOIT-DBx_transferred
- 979352 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_MSKBx_transferred
- http://blogs.technet.com/msrc/archive/2010/01/14/security-advisory-979352.aspx (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
- ie-freed-object-code-execution(55642) (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_XFx_transferred
- TA10-055A (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisoryx_refsource_CERTx_transferred
- MS10-002 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_MSx_transferred
- http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-10435232-245.html (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- 1023462 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_SECTRACKx_transferred
- ADV-2010-0135 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_VUPENx_transferred
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2010-0249 (opens in a new tab)government-resource
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- CISA KEV catalog (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2010-0280 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2010-0249)Record last updated .