IeApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2000-0036

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 1999-12-22
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
59/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Outlook Express 5 for Macintosh downloads attachments to HTML mail without prompting the user, aka the "HTML Mail Attachment" vulnerability.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

Outlook Express 5 for Macintosh automatically downloads attachments embedded in HTML email messages without prompting the user for confirmation, allowing potentially malicious attachments to be saved and executed without user interaction.

MitigationUsers should upgrade to a newer version of Outlook Express or switch to a modern, supported email client, as Outlook Express 5 for Macintosh is legacy software from 2000. Users should also avoid opening attachments from untrusted sources.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
IeApplication
Affected:= 4.5
Outlook ExpressApplication
Affected:= 5.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
Partial
Availability
None

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify Outlook Express for Macintosh is installed
    Check the Applications folder or system for the presence of Microsoft Outlook Express. On Mac OS 9 or earlier, look in the System Folder or Applications folder for the Outlook Express icon.
    Affected if Outlook Express 5 for Macintosh is present on the system
  2. Confirm the installed version is 5.0
    Open Outlook Express and navigate to the About section, typically found under the application menu or Help > About. Compare the version number shown to 5.0.
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 5.0 (version 5.0)
  3. Check if HTML email rendering is enabled
    In Outlook Express preferences, look for Mail or Message settings. Verify whether the option to display HTML messages is enabled or set to allow HTML content.
    Affected if HTML email rendering is enabled in the mail preferences
  4. Verify automatic attachment handling settings
    In Outlook Express preferences under Mail or Attachments settings, check if there is an option for automatically saving or displaying attachments embedded in HTML messages. This may be found in security or handling preferences.
    Affected if Automatic download or saving of embedded attachments is enabled without user prompt

A user is affected if they have Outlook Express 5.0 for Macintosh installed with HTML email rendering and automatic attachment handling enabled, allowing unsandboxed attachment execution from received HTML emails.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Users should upgrade to a newer version of Outlook Express or switch to a modern, supported email client, as Outlook Express 5 for Macintosh is legacy software from 2000. Users should also avoid opening attachments from untrusted sources.

Fix this in Ie Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
4.0 hours of engineering $750
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2000-0036 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data