CVE-2002-0057
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 · uneditedXMLHTTP control in Microsoft XML Core Services 2.6 and later does not properly handle IE Security Zone settings, which allows remote attackers to read arbitrary files by specifying a local file as an XML Data Source.
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 confidenceThe XMLHTTP control in Microsoft XML Core Services 2.6 and later fails to properly honor Internet Explorer Security Zone settings, allowing a malicious webpage to specify a local file path (file://) as an XML Data Source and read arbitrary files from the victim's file system.
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= 6.0= 2000= 2.6= 3.0= 4.0all versionsCVSS 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 XML Core Services versionLocate msxml.dll on the system (typically in C:\Windows\System32 or C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Microsoft XML) and check its file version property, or query the registry key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{F6D90F16-9C73-11D3-B32E-00C04F990BB4}\InprocServer32 for the installed versionAffected if The version is 2.6, 3.0, or 4.0 without the MS02-008 patch applied
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Verify Internet Explorer versionOpen IE, go to Help > About Internet Explorer, or check the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer for the Version valueAffected if Version is 6.0 and the XML Core Services patch has not been applied
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Confirm MS02-008 patch statusCheck Add/Remove Programs for the MS02-008 security update, or verify that the file msxml.dll has been updated to a version dated after February 2002Affected if The MS02-008 patch is not listed in installed updates or msxml.dll remains at an unpatched version from early 2002
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Check if XMLHTTP control is availableOpen IE, create a simple HTML page with ActiveXObject('Microsoft.XMLHTTP') using developer tools or a script, or check if msxml.dll is registered via regsvr32Affected if The XMLHTTP ActiveX control is present and functional without the security update
The system is affected if Internet Explorer 6.0 or XML Core Services versions 2.6 through 4.0 are installed without the MS02-008 security patch, allowing the XMLHTTP control to bypass security zone restrictions and read local files via file:// URLs.
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 dataApply the relevant Microsoft security update for XML Core Services (MS02-008 or subsequent cumulative updates), and consider restricting active content execution in untrusted IE security zones as a defense-in-depth measure.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2002-0057 — 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-2002-0057 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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