Msn MessengerApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2007-3436

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2007-06-27
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
59/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
Microsoft MSN Messenger 4.7 on Windows XP allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (resource consumption) via a flood of SIP INVITE requests to the port specified for voice conversation.

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 · moderate confidence

Microsoft MSN Messenger 4.7 on Windows XP contains a denial of service vulnerability where the application fails to properly handle excessive SIP INVITE requests directed at the voice conversation port, allowing remote attackers to consume resources and render the service unresponsive.

MitigationImplement network-level filtering or firewall rules to rate-limit or block inbound SIP INVITE requests, or migrate to a supported modern messaging platform as MSN Messenger and Windows XP are obsolete and no longer receive security updates.

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
Msn MessengerApplication
Affected:= 4.7

CVSS 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
None
Availability
Partial

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check the Windows version
    Open a command prompt and run 'winver' or check System Properties. Alternatively, run 'systeminfo' in cmd and look for 'OS Name' and 'OS Version'.
    Affected if The system is running Windows XP (any version)
  2. Verify MSN Messenger 4.7 installation
    Check for the presence of msnmsgr.exe in the installation directory. Common paths: C:\Program Files\MSN Messenger\msnmsgr.exe or C:\Program Files\Windows Live\msnmsgr.exe. You can also check the Windows Registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSN Messenger or look in Add/Remove Programs.
    Affected if Microsoft MSN Messenger version 4.7 is installed on the system
  3. Confirm the exact version number
    Right-click on msnmsgr.exe (if found), select Properties, then go to the Details tab to view the File Version. Alternatively, run 'msnmsgr.exe /version' or check the registry value at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSN Messenger\InstallPath for the version entry.
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 4.7 (note: other versions like 4.6, 4.5, or 6.x are NOT affected by this specific CVE)
  4. Check if voice conversation feature could be active
    MSN Messenger 4.7 included built-in voice conversation capability using SIP protocol on ports 6891-6901 (default range). Check if Windows Firewall or any personal firewall has exceptions for MSN Messenger, or if the application is configured to allow incoming voice connections.
    Affected if The voice/SIP functionality is enabled or allowed through firewall exceptions, making the service reachable on the voice ports

You are affected only if you are running Windows XP with Microsoft MSN Messenger version 4.7 exactly, and the voice conversation feature is enabled or accessible (the application listens for incoming SIP INVITE requests).

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Implement network-level filtering or firewall rules to rate-limit or block inbound SIP INVITE requests, or migrate to a supported modern messaging platform as MSN Messenger and Windows XP are obsolete and no longer receive security updates.

Fix this in Msn Messenger Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2007-3436 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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