CVE-2004-2091
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 · uneditedMicrosoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) 1.2 does not correctly identify systems that have been patched but remain vulnerable to exploit until the system is rebooted, possibly giving the administrator a false sense of security.
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 confidenceMBSA 1.2 has a false-negative detection flaw where it reports systems as patched and secure after applying Microsoft updates, but fails to detect that the patches remain ineffective until the system is rebooted. This creates a window where administrators receive false security assessments.
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= 1.2CVSS 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
- Partial
- Availability
- None
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N
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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Verify MBSA version installationCheck the installed version of Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer on the system. This can be done by locating the MBSA executable (mbsa.exe) in the program directory, typically found under 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer' or 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer', and viewing its version properties through right-click > Properties > Details, or by running 'mbsa.exe /?' from the command prompt to display version information.Affected if The installed MBSA version is exactly 1.2 (build 1.2.0.0 or similar).
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Confirm usage for patch status assessmentIdentify whether MBSA 1.2 is being actively used to scan systems for missing security updates. Review any scheduled scans, security audit processes, or administrator workflows that rely on MBSA scan results to determine patch compliance.Affected if MBSA 1.2 is being used to assess patch status on systems that have recently had Microsoft updates applied but may not have been rebooted.
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Assess the detection limitationUnderstand that MBSA 1.2 cannot detect whether patches have been fully applied and are active, versus merely installed and awaiting a system restart to become effective. This limitation means MBSA may report systems as 'secure' or 'patched' when the installed patches are not yet active.Affected if MBSA 1.2 is used to evaluate the security posture of Windows systems that require a reboot after patch installation, leading to potentially false 'secure' assessments.
A user is affected if Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer version 1.2 is installed and being used to scan Windows systems for patch status, because the tool may report false 'patched' results for systems that have pending reboots after applying updates.
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 dataAdministrators should be aware of this limitation and ensure systems are rebooted after patching before relying on MBSA results for security decisions. Consider using additional verification methods or waiting for confirmed reboot completion before assessing patch status.
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2004-2091 — 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-2004-2091 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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