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.net FrameworkApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2004-0200

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2004-09-28
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
Buffer overflow in the JPEG (JPG) parsing engine in the Microsoft Graphic Device Interface Plus (GDI+) component, GDIPlus.dll, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a JPEG image with a small JPEG COM field length that is normalized to a large integer length before a memory copy operation.

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 confidence

Buffer overflow in Microsoft GDI+ (GDIPlus.dll) JPEG parsing engine where a small JPEG COM field length gets normalized to a large integer value before a memory copy operation, allowing remote code execution.

MitigationApply Microsoft security updates for GDI+ (MS04-028) or later cumulative updates. For systems where patching is not feasible, restrict handling of untrusted JPEG images and consider alternative image viewers that do not use GDI+ for rendering.

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
.net FrameworkApplication
Affected:= 1.0
Digital Image ProApplication
Affected:= 7.0= 9
Digital Image SuiteApplication
Affected:= 9
ExcelApplication
Affected:= 2002= 2003
FrontpageApplication
Affected:= 2002= 2003
GreetingsApplication
Affected:= 2002
InfopathApplication
Affected:= 2003
OfficeApplication
Affected:= 2003= xp

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
M
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

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. Locate GDIPlus.dll on the system
    Search for GDIPlus.dll in system directories (C:\Windows\System32\GDIPlus.dll, C:\Windows\SysWOW64\GDIPlus.dll for 64-bit systems) and note its file path
    Affected if GDIPlus.dll is present on the system (the library is used by many Microsoft applications for image rendering)
  2. Check GDIPlus.dll version
    Right-click GDIPlus.dll, select Properties, then view the Version tab to obtain the File Version (for example, 5.1.3102.1365 or similar pre-MS04-028 versions)
    Affected if The file version is older than the patched version released with MS04-028 (typically versions below 5.1.3102.1365)
  3. Identify installed Microsoft products that use GDI+
    Check installed programs for presence of Microsoft Office (XP or 2003), Excel (2002 or 2003), FrontPage (2002 or 2003), Digital Image Pro (7.0 or 9), Digital Image Suite 9, InfoPath 2003, .NET Framework 1.0, Greetings 2002, or other listed affected products
    Affected if Any of the affected products listed in the CVE (Office XP/2003, Excel 2002/2003, FrontPage 2002/2003, Digital Image Pro 7.0/9, Digital Image Suite 9, InfoPath 2003, .NET Framework 1.0, Greetings 2002) are installed on the system
  4. Verify JPEG image handling capability
    Confirm that any installed affected product can open or process JPEG image files (test by attempting to open a JPEG in the application or checking file type associations)
    Affected if The product has JPEG parsing or rendering functionality enabled and can process JPEG files

The system is affected if GDIPlus.dll with a vulnerable pre-MS04-028 version is present AND any affected Microsoft product (Office, Excel, FrontPage, Digital Image Pro/Suite, InfoPath, .NET Framework 1.0, or Greetings) that uses GDI+ for JPEG handling is installed.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply Microsoft security updates for GDI+ (MS04-028) or later cumulative updates. For systems where patching is not feasible, restrict handling of untrusted JPEG images and consider alternative image viewers that do not use GDI+ for rendering.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to Microsoft Office 2007 or later; Upgrade to .NET Framework 1.1 SP1 or later (and ideally to .NET Framework 2.0 or higher)

  1. Locate and download the MS04-028 security update from Microsoft's official Security Bulletin (https://technet.microsoft.com/security/bulletin/ms04-028)
  2. Apply the security update to the affected system - this patch addresses the GDI+ JPEG parsing buffer overflow vulnerability
  3. Restart the system after applying the update
  4. Alternatively, for long-term remediation, upgrade from the affected product versions to supported versions: upgrade Office XP/2003 to Office 2007 or later, upgrade .NET Framework 1.0 to .NET Framework 1.1 SP1 or later
  5. After upgrading, verify the GDIPlus.dll version is the patched version (6.0.6000.16386 or higher)
Caveat Very old products (Office XP, .NET 1.0) are out of mainstream support; upgrading may require significant migration effort and may break compatibility with legacy file formats or customizations

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in .net Framework Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,080
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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-2004-0200 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