CVE-2003-0238
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 Message Session window in Mirabilis ICQ Pro 2003a allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption) by spoofing the address of an ADS server and sending HTML with a -1 width in a table tag.
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 confidenceThe Mirabilis ICQ Pro 2003a Message Session window contains a vulnerability where malformed HTML containing a table tag with -1 width attribute, sent from a spoofed ADS server, causes excessive CPU consumption leading to denial of service. The vulnerability exploits how the client parses certain HTML constructs in message content.
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= 99a_2.15build1701= 99a_2.21build1800= 2000.0a= 2000.0b_build3278= 2001a= 2001b_build3636= 2001b_build3638= 2001b_build3659= 2002a_build3722= 2002a_build3727= 2003a_build3777= 2003a_build3799CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/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 if Mirabilis ICQ is installedLook for ICQ installation directories such as C:\Program Files\ICQ or C:\Program Files\Mirabilis\ICQ, and check for executable files named icq.exe or similar in these locationsAffected if ICQ executable is found in the system
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Identify the installed ICQ versionRight-click on the ICQ executable (icq.exe), select Properties, and examine the File Version field under the Version tab; alternatively check the version info displayed when launching ICQ or in Add/Remove ProgramsAffected if The version matches any of these: 99a_2.15build1701, 99a_2.21build1800, 2000.0a, 2000.0b_build3278, 2001a, 2001b_build3636, 2001b_build3638, 2001b_build3659, 2002a_build3722, 2002a_build3727, 2003a_build3777, 2003a_build3799
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Verify the ICQ client is runningOpen Task Manager, go to the Processes tab, and look for icq.exe or related ICQ processesAffected if ICQ process is currently active in memory
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Confirm network connectivity is enabledCheck ICQ connection settings by opening ICQ preferences and verifying that connection to the ICQ network (ADS server) is enabled and the client is logged inAffected if ICQ is connected to the ICQ network and can receive messages from external servers
If Mirabilis ICQ is installed, the version matches one of the affected builds listed, and the client is actively connected to the ICQ network, the system is potentially vulnerable to the CPU exhaustion DoS via malformed HTML table tags in messages.
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 dataDiscontinue use of ICQ Pro 2003a as it is end-of-life software; migrate to a currently supported ICQ client version or alternative messaging platform to eliminate this vulnerability.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2003-0238 — 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-2003-0238 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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