- 8.4HighCVSS base score
- 0.64%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 49% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- 1Public exploitsMetasploit, Nuclei and Exploit-DB
Description
AOL versions up to and including 9.5 includes an ActiveX control (Phobos.dll) that exposes a method called Import() via the Phobos.Playlist COM object. This method is vulnerable to a stack-based buffer overflow when provided with an excessively long string argument. Exploitation allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code in the context of the user, but only when the malicious HTML file is opened locally, due to the control not being marked safe for scripting or initialization. AOL remains an active and supported brand offering services like AOL Mail and AOL Desktop Gold, but the legacy AOL 9.5 desktop software—specifically the version containing the vulnerable Phobos.dll ActiveX control—is long discontinued and no longer maintained.
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 for it. 5 references of the record are tagged as an exploit. CISA's SSVC rates its exploitation: a proof of concept is public.
Show the exploits6
Metasploit modules1 module
- AOL 9.5 Phobos.Playlist Import() Stack-based Buffer Overflow (Metasploit module) (opens in a new tab)
exploit/windows/fileformat/aol_phobos_bofRank averagedisclosed 20 Jan 2010
References tagged exploit5 references
- https://web.archive.org/web/20100804162117/http://www.rec-sec.com/2010/01/25/aol-playlist-class-buffer-overflow/ (opens in a new tab)technical-descriptionexploit
- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/master/modules/exploits/windows/fileformat/aol_phobos_bof.rb (opens in a new tab)exploit
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/11204 (opens in a new tab)exploit
- http://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/11190 (opens in a new tab)exploit
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/11190 (opens in a new tab)exploit
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 VulnCheck
Published
- 9 months later
· 9 months 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| VulnCheckCNA (assigner) | 4.0 | High8.4 | CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N |
| NVDNVD · Deferred | 4.0 | High8.4 | CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 0.64% · top 49% of all CVEs (11 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: poc · Automatable: no · Technical impact: total
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 8.4.
Affected products
References
References9
- https://web.archive.org/web/20100804162117/http://www.rec-sec.com/2010/01/25/aol-playlist-class-buffer-overflow/ (opens in a new tab)technical-descriptionexploit
- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/master/modules/exploits/windows/fileformat/aol_phobos_bof.rb (opens in a new tab)exploit
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/11204 (opens in a new tab)exploit
- https://www.broadcom.com/support/security-center/attacksignatures/detail?asid=26569 (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisory
- https://www.fortiguard.com/encyclopedia/ips/32026/aol-phobos-dll-activex-control-import-buffer-overflow (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisory
- https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId=20354 (opens in a new tab)product
- http://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/11190 (opens in a new tab)exploit
- https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/aol-phobos-playlist-import-stack-based-buffer-overflow (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisory
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/11190 (opens in a new tab)exploit
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)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2010-5309 (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-2010-10015)Record last updated .