CVE-2002-0615
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 · uneditedThe Windows Media Active Playlist in Microsoft Windows Media Player 7.1 stores information in a well known location on the local file system, allowing attackers to execute HTML scripts in the Local Computer zone, aka "Media Playback Script Invocation".
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 confidenceWindows Media Player 7.1 stores playlist information in a predictable file system location, enabling attackers to embed malicious HTML script content that executes in the Local Computer zone with elevated privileges. This cross-zone scripting vulnerability exploits the trusted status of the Local Computer zone in Internet Explorer security settings.
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= 2000= 2002= 2000= xpCVSS 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
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
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 Windows Media Player to view the version numberAffected if Version is 7.1 specifically
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Verify playlist file storage location existsCheck if the default playlist storage directory (typically C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\WMP\Playlists\) exists and contains .wpl playlist filesAffected if Playlist files are stored in predictable filesystem location accessible to other applications
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Confirm Active Playlist functionality is enabledIn Windows Media Player 7.1, verify if Active Playlist features are enabled under Tools > Options > PlaylistsAffected if Active Playlist functionality is turned on, allowing persisted playlist definitions
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Check Internet Explorer Local Computer zone script settingsIn Internet Explorer, go to Tools > Internet Options > Security > Local Computer Zone > Custom Level and review 'Script ActiveX controls marked safe for scripting' settingAffected if Script execution is enabled or not explicitly restricted in the Local Computer zone
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Inspect for presence of Microsoft Office or Excel with playlist import capabilityCheck if Microsoft Excel 2000/2002 or Office 2000/XP is installed and can import WMP playlist filesAffected if Office applications with playlist import functionality are present and can execute embedded script content from playlist files
User is affected if Windows Media Player 7.1 is installed with Active Playlist enabled AND IE Local Computer zone permits script execution, allowing malicious playlist content to run with elevated privileges
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 from Windows Media Player 7.1 to a current supported version, or apply the relevant Microsoft security patch (MS02-013) if still running legacy systems; alternatively, disable Active Playlist functionality and ensure browsers have restricted Local Computer zone script execution policies.
- 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-2002-0615 — 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-2002-0615 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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