What is the CVSS score of CVE-2012-1889?

CVE-2012-1889 has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.8 (High). CVSS vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. EPSS exploitation probability: 92.9%.

Is there a public PoC exploit available for CVE-2012-1889?

Yes, a public proof-of-concept exploit is available for CVE-2012-1889. Prioritise patching immediately. EPSS: 92.9%.

How to fix or mitigate CVE-2012-1889?

Within 24 hours: Identify all affected systems and apply vendor patches immediately. If patching is delayed, consider network segmentation to limit exposure.

Microsoft CVE-2012-1889

HIGH

Out-of-bounds Write (CWE-787)

2012-06-13 secure@microsoft.com

RCE Buffer Overflow Denial Of Service Memory Corruption Microsoft

8.8

CVSS 3.1 · NVD

View

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness	CWE CWE-787 OWASP Top 10:2025 A06:2021 - Vulnerable and Outdated Components ASVS 5.0 V14 - Configuration Dependency management, component inventory MITRE ATT&CK 2 techniques across 2 tactics: Execution, Privilege Escalation The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. Sign in to read
Impact	High risk. The widespread deployment of MSXML (used by Internet Explorer, Office, and many Windows applications) meant virtually all Windows systems were vulnerable. Zero-day exploitation preceded Microsoft's patch.
Exploit ScenarioDerived	A watering hole attack compromised a popular industry news site, injecting an iframe that loaded XML content triggering the MSXML vulnerability. Visitors running IE were silently exploited, with the payload installing a custom backdoor for data exfiltration.

Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Why: In CISA KEV with patch available.

Exploited in the wild (CISA KEV) Patch available 92.9% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Mar 26, 2026

Microsoft XML Core Services 3.0 through 6.0 access uninitialized memory locations, allowing remote attackers to execute code or cause memory corruption through a crafted website, actively exploited before patch availability.

Earlier versions of this analysis (1)

v1 Mar 26, 2026 - 11:18 CVSS 8.8

Microsoft XML Core Services (MSXML) accesses uninitialized memory during XML processing, enabling remote code execution or denial of service through specially crafted web pages. This was exploited as a zero-day in 2012.

RemediationAI

Apply Microsoft security update MS12-043. The underlying MSXML components are system libraries, so Windows Update is the correct remediation path.

Affects your stack

Find out whether the stacks and servers you run are on an affected version.

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

The CWE-787 vulnerability occurs when MSXML fails to properly initialize memory locations before use during XML document parsing. Attackers can trigger the uninitialized memory access through a crafted webpage, allowing them to control the contents of the uninitialized memory to achieve code execution.

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Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 8.8 HIGH

AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

None

User Interaction

Required

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Availability

High

Lifecycle Timeline

Added to CISA KEV

Oct 22, 2025 - 01:15 cisa

CISA KEV

PoC Detected

Oct 22, 2025 - 01:15 vuln.today

Public exploit code

Patch released

Oct 22, 2025 - 01:15 nvd

Patch available

CVE Published

Jun 13, 2012 - 04:46 nvd

HIGH 8.8

DescriptionCVE.org

Microsoft XML Core Services 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, and 6.0 accesses uninitialized memory locations, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via a crafted web site.

Executive ViewAI

Why It Matters

CVE-2012-1889 presents significant security risk, a out-of-bounds write vulnerability rated CVSS 8.8. Exploitation could allow attackers to corrupt memory, crash the application, or potentially execute arbitrary code. This vulnerability is actively exploited in the wild (KEV-listed) and requires immediate remediation. A patch is available and should be applied as part of regular vulnerability management.

Business Impact: Severe

Compensating Controls

Apply vendor patch. If immediate patching is not feasible: (1) Enable ASLR and DEP where available; (2) Implement network segmentation; (3) Monitor for exploitation indicators.

Threat Intelligence Overview

Threat Score

9.5/10

Composite threat intelligence

EPSS Score

92.9%

Top 0% exploitable

Threat Intel

1 sources

Exploit

POC

Public exploit code exists

Data Quality

8 sources

Confidence: High

NVD

CVE.org

CISA KEV

EPSS POC (1) THREAT

Exploit-DB

VulDB

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue

Severity HIGH

CISA KEV Yes

Public POC Yes

EPSS 92.9%

Patch available Yes

Active threat Yes

Deciding rule

In CISA KEV with patch available

What every action level means

Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.

Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.

Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived

Immediate

Exploitation· derived

Active

System Exposure· derived

Open

Automatable· derived

Human Impact

Very High

Priority Score

232

Low Medium High Critical

KEV: +50

EPSS: +93

CVSS: +44

PoC: +20

Weaponized: +15

Threat intel: +10

Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Buffer Overflow HIGH

A buffer overflow occurs when a program writes more data to a memory buffer than it was allocated to hold, causing the excess data to spill into adjacent memory regions.

Memory Corruption HIGH

Memory corruption occurs when a program writes data beyond the boundaries of allocated memory regions or accesses memory in unintended ways, violating the integrity of the process's address space.

Remote Code Execution CRITICAL

Remote Code Execution represents the critical moment when an attacker successfully runs arbitrary code on a target system without physical access.

Denial of Service MEDIUM

Denial of Service attacks render applications or systems unavailable by overwhelming resources or triggering failure conditions.