Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 24 Mar 2022.
InterixApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2004-0210

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2004-08-06
Patch available
A vendor patch is available. No clean upgrade release — apply the published patch.
See remediation →
96/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild Zero-click Patch available

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
The POSIX component of Microsoft Windows NT and Windows 2000 allows local users to execute arbitrary code via certain parameters, possibly by modifying message length values and causing a buffer overflow.

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

CVE-2004-0210 affects the POSIX component of Microsoft Windows NT and Windows 2000, allowing local users to execute arbitrary code through a buffer overflow caused by manipulating message length values. This vulnerability has a CVSS score of 7.8, indicating a high severity level.

MitigationTo remediate this vulnerability, it is essential to apply patches or updates provided by Microsoft for affected systems. Additionally, restricting local user access can help mitigate the risk.

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
InterixApplication
Affected:= 2.2
Windows 2000Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows NtOperating system
Affected:= 4.0

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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. Check installed version of Microsoft Interix
    Run the command 'interix -version' in the command prompt
    Affected if The version is exactly 2.2
  2. Check installed version of Microsoft Windows 2000
    Go to 'System Properties' and check the version information
    Affected if Any version of Windows 2000 is installed
  3. Check installed version of Microsoft Windows NT
    Run the command 'winver' in the command prompt
    Affected if The version is exactly 4.0

You are affected if you have Microsoft Interix 2.2, any version of Windows 2000, or Windows NT 4.0 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
Patch available Apply the vendor patch
Vendor patch www.kb.cert.org →
Interim mitigation

To remediate this vulnerability, it is essential to apply patches or updates provided by Microsoft for affected systems. Additionally, restricting local user access can help mitigate the risk.

Recommended fix High confidence

Windows 10 or Windows Server 2016/2019/2022 (the POSIX subsystem was deprecated/removed in later Windows versions)

  1. This vulnerability affects Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 POSIX subsystems, which are both end-of-life and no longer supported by Microsoft.
  2. There is no patch available for this vulnerability from Microsoft.
  3. Upgrade to a currently supported Windows version (Windows 10 or Windows Server 2016/2019/2022) to eliminate exposure to this vulnerability.
  4. If running legacy systems is absolutely required, consider disabling or removing the POSIX subsystem (Interix/SFU) if not needed.
  5. Implement least-privilege access controls to limit local user permissions on affected systems.
  6. Note: Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 reached end of support in 2004 and 2010 respectively and should not be used in production environments.
Caveat Upgrading from Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 2000 to modern Windows involves significant migration considerations; legacy applications may require rewrites or replacement

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

Fix this in Interix Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,690
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,304.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2004-0210 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2004-0210 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