CVE-2006-5650
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 · uneditedThe ICQPhone.SipxPhoneManager ActiveX control in America Online ICQ 5.1 allows remote attackers to download and execute arbitrary code via the DownloadAgent function, as demonstrated using an ICQ avatar.
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 confidenceThe ICQPhone.SipxPhoneManager ActiveX control in ICQ 5.1 contains a flaw where the DownloadAgent function can be exploited to download and execute arbitrary code remotely. Attackers demonstrated this via malicious ICQ avatars, achieving remote code execution without user interaction beyond viewing the compromised content.
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= 5.1CVSS 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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Verify ICQ 5.1 installationSearch for ICQ installation directory in typical locations (C:\Program Files\ICQ or C:\Program Files (x86)\ICQ) or check Add/Remove Programs for ICQ entryAffected if ICQ 5.1 is installed on the system
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Confirm exact ICQ versionRight-click the ICQ executable (icq.exe) in the installation folder, select Properties, and check the Details tab for version informationAffected if Version displays as 5.1.x or specifically 5.1 (the exact version must be 5.1)
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Check for vulnerable ActiveX controlSearch Windows Registry for the ICQPhone.SipxPhoneManager CLSID entry under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT or HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ClassesAffected if The ICQPhone.SipxPhoneManager ActiveX control is registered in the system registry
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Verify control is not protected by killbitCheck registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Code Store Database\Special Handling for the ActiveX control CLSID with a non-zero value, or verify the component is not set to Disabled in Internet Explorer add-on managementAffected if The ActiveX control is present and enabled (no killbit or disable flag is set)
The system is affected if ICQ version 5.1 is installed AND the ICQPhone.SipxPhoneManager ActiveX control is present and not disabled via killbit.
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 the ICQPhone.SipxPhoneManager ActiveX control using the Windows killbit feature in the registry, or remove ICQ 5.1 entirely as it is obsolete and unsupported software.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2006-5650 — 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-2006-5650 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