CVE-2006-4495
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 Internet Explorer allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory corruption) and possibly execute arbitrary code by instantiating certain Windows 2000 ActiveX COM Objects including (1) ciodm.dll, (2) myinfo.dll, (3) msdxm.ocx, and (4) creator.dll.
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 confidenceInternet Explorer allows remote attackers to cause memory corruption and potentially execute arbitrary code by instantiating certain Windows 2000 ActiveX COM objects (ciodm.dll, myinfo.dll, msdxm.ocx, creator.dll) through improper handling of these legacy components.
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= 2000_server= advanced_server= datacenter_server= professionalCVSS 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 Internet Explorer versionOpen IE, go to Help > About Internet Explorer, or run 'winver' command, or check registry key HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\VersionAffected if Version is 6.0 specifically (not higher or lower)
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Verify Windows versionRun 'winver' or check system properties, or run 'systeminfo' command and look at OS Name and OS VersionAffected if Running Windows 2003 Server (2000_server, advanced_server, datacenter_server) or Windows 2003 Professional
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Check for vulnerable COM componentsSearch for the files ciodm.dll, myinfo.dll, msdxm.ocx, and creator.dll in the Windows\System32 directory using Windows Explorer search or command: dir C:\Windows\System32\ciodm.dll etc.Affected if Any of these four DLL/OCX files exist on the system
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Verify ActiveX is enabled in Internet ExplorerOpen IE > Tools > Internet Options > Security > Custom Level, look for 'Run ActiveX controls and plugins' settingAffected if ActiveX controls are set to Enable or Prompt (not Disable)
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Confirm IE can instantiate these COM objectsCheck registry under HKCR\CLSID for the COM object identifiers associated with ciodm.dll, myinfo.dll, msdxm.ocx, creator.dll, or attempt to instantiate via IE with testing toolsAffected if The COM objects are registered and accessible to IE
You are affected if running Windows 2003 with IE 6.0 AND the vulnerable DLL/OCX files exist AND ActiveX controls are enabled, allowing IE to instantiate these legacy COM components.
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 ActiveX controls in Internet Explorer security settings, remove or unregister the vulnerable COM components (ciodm.dll, myinfo.dll, msdxm.ocx, creator.dll), or migrate away from Windows 2000 which is end-of-life.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 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-2006-4495 — 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-2006-4495 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data