CVE-2001-0243
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 · uneditedWindows Media Player 7 and earlier stores Internet shortcuts in a user's Temporary Files folder with a fixed filename instead of in the Internet Explorer cache, which causes the HTML in those shortcuts to run in the Local Computer Zone instead of the Internet Zone, which allows remote attackers to read certain files.
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 · high confidenceWindows Media Player 7 and earlier stores Internet shortcuts in the user's Temporary Files folder using a fixed filename rather than in the Internet Explorer cache. This causes HTML content within those shortcuts to execute in the Local Computer Zone instead of the Internet Zone, enabling remote attackers to read certain local files.
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= 6.4= 7CVSS 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
- Partial
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed Windows Media Player versionOpen Windows Media Player, go to Help > About, or check the version via the file properties of wmplayer.exe in Program Files\Windows Media Player. Also check the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\Version.Affected if Version is 6.4 or 7.0 (versions prior to 7.1 are affected)
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Locate the Temporary Files folder shortcut filesOpen the user Temporary folder (typically %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Temp or %TEMP%) and look for media-related shortcut files with fixed predictable filenames such as .asx or .wax files created by Windows Media Player.Affected if Shortcuts with fixed/predictable filenames exist in the Temp folder (the vulnerability requires these shortcuts to be present)
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Verify the shortcuts execute in Local Computer ZoneRight-click the shortcut file in the Temp folder, select Properties, and observe which security zone is assigned. The vulnerability exists because these shortcuts run in Local Computer Zone rather than Internet Zone.Affected if The shortcut files show Local Computer Zone or no zone restriction (unrestricted local execution)
If Windows Media Player version 6.4 or 7 is installed AND media shortcut files with fixed filenames exist in the user's Temporary folder, the environment is vulnerable to local file disclosure through HTML content execution in the Local Computer Zone.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataUpgrade Windows Media Player to version 7.1 or later, or migrate to a modern media player. Alternatively, disable Internet shortcut creation or restrict access to the Temporary Files folder.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2001-0243 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2001-0243 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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
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