CVE-2004-0209
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 · uneditedUnknown vulnerability in the Graphics Rendering Engine processes of Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via (1) Windows Metafile (WMF) or (2) Enhanced Metafile (EMF) image formats that involve "an unchecked buffer."
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 confidenceBuffer overflow in Windows Graphics Rendering Engine when processing malformed WMF or EMF image files allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via specially crafted images.
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 dataall versions= r2all 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
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/AC:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify Windows versionRun 'winver' or 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"' to determine the installed Windows versionAffected if Version is Windows 2000 (any), Windows XP (any), or Windows 2003 Server R2
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Check if MS04-028 patch is installedOpen Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs, enable 'Show updates', and look for 'Security Update for Microsoft Windows (KB833987)' or check via 'wmic qfe list' commandAffected if The security update KB833987 is NOT installed or the system shows as unpatched
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Verify WMF/EMF rendering is enabledCheck registry key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.wmf and HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.emf to confirm file associations exist, or attempt to open a WMF/EMF file in an application like Microsoft Word or ExcelAffected if WMF and EMF file types are registered and can be opened by applications (indicating rendering engine is active)
The system is affected if it runs Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows 2003 Server R2 AND lacks the KB833987 security patch AND has WMF/EMF file rendering enabled.
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.
dbcve · scopedApply Microsoft security update MS04-028. For legacy systems that cannot be patched, disable WMF/EMF rendering or deploy endpoint protection with heuristic detection for malformed image files.
- This vulnerability affects Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003, which are all operating systems that have reached end-of-life and no longer receive security updates from Microsoft.
- Isolate affected systems from the network to prevent exploitation.
- Consult Microsoft's official security bulletin (MS04-032) for historical patch information if maintaining these systems is absolutely required.
- Due to the age of these systems and lack of vendor support, the recommended remediation is to retire and replace them with supported operating systems.
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2004-0209 — 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-2004-0209 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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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.
- 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