CVE-2006-3888
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 · uneditedBuffer overflow in AOL You've Got Pictures (YGP) Pic Downloader YGPPDownload ActiveX control (AOL.PicDownloadCtrl.1, YGPPicDownload.dll), as used in America Online 9.0 Security Edition, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a long argument to the SetAlbumName method.
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 vulnerability in the AOL You've Got Pictures (YGP) Pic Downloader ActiveX control (AOL.PicDownloadCtrl.1, YGPPicDownload.dll). The SetAlbumName method fails to properly validate input length, allowing a remote attacker to overwrite stack memory and execute arbitrary code by supplying an overly long string argument.
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 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
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/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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Check if the AOL Pic Downloader ActiveX control is registeredOpen the Windows registry and look for the CLSID associated with the ProgID 'AOL.PicDownloadCtrl.1' under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, or search for YGPPicDownload.dll in the system.Affected if The control CLSID or the YGPPicDownload.dll file exists on the system.
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Verify the control is loadable in Internet ExplorerAttempt to instantiate the ActiveX control in IE by visiting a page that uses the control, or check the registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Code Store Database\Distribution Units to see if the control is marked as installed.Affected if The control can be loaded and instantiated by Internet Explorer.
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Confirm the Kill Bit is not set for this CLSIDCheck the registry path HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\ActiveX Compatibility\{CLSID} or HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{CLSID}\Enabled for the value indicating the Kill Bit. If the compatibility flags are not set to 0x00000400, the control is not blocked.Affected if The Kill Bit is not set and the control is allowed to run in Internet Explorer.
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Check for presence of the vulnerable DLL fileSearch the file system for YGPPicDownload.dll, typically found in system directories or AOL installation folders.Affected if The YGPPicDownload.dll file is present on the system and not removed.
If the AOL.PicDownloadCtrl.1 ActiveX control is registered, the YGPPicDownload.dll file exists, and the Kill Bit is not set, the system is affected by this vulnerability.
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 dataDisable or remove the vulnerable AOL.PicDownloadCtrl.1 ActiveX control, or set the 'Kill Bit' for this CLSID in the Windows registry to prevent the control from loading in Internet Explorer.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2006-3888 — 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-2006-3888 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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