CVE-2005-3240
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 · uneditedRace condition in Microsoft Internet Explorer allows user-assisted attackers to overwrite arbitrary files and possibly execute code by tricking a user into performing a drag-and-drop action from certain objects, such as file objects within a folder view, then predicting the drag action, and re-focusing to a malicious window.
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 confidenceRace condition in Microsoft Internet Explorer where attackers trick users into performing drag-and-drop actions from file objects in folder views, then predict the drag action and refocus to a malicious window to overwrite arbitrary files and potentially execute code.
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= 6.0= 5.01= 5.5= 6.0CVSS 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
- High
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:H/Au:N/C:P/I:P/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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Determine Internet Explorer versionOpen Internet Explorer, click Help > About Internet Explorer to view the version number, or check the registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\VersionAffected if The installed version is 5.01, 5.5, or 6.0 specifically
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Check if drag-and-drop is enabled in IEIn Internet Explorer, go to Tools > Internet Options > Security > Custom Level and look for the 'Enable drag and drop' setting under the 'Miscellaneous' sectionAffected if Drag and drop is set to Enable (this is the default and required for the exploit to work)
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Verify Windows Shell folder view behaviorOpen any folder in Windows Explorer, right-click View, and confirm that folder views with file icons are accessible. The vulnerability relies on dragging file objects from folder views.Affected if Folder views displaying files as icons are available and accessible (standard Windows behavior)
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Check for user account control statusOn affected systems, this vulnerability allows overwriting files in the user's context. Verify the user has write access to locations that could be targeted for file overwrite.Affected if The user has write permissions to sensitive locations that could be targeted for code execution via file overwrite
A user is affected if they are running Internet Explorer versions 5.01, 5.5, or 6.0 AND have drag-and-drop functionality enabled, which is the default configuration.
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 dataSince Internet Explorer is deprecated, migrate to Microsoft Edge or other modern browsers; disable drag-and-drop functionality in IE if legacy requirements necessitate its use.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2005-3240 — 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-2005-3240 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