CVE-2009-2507
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 · uneditedA certain ActiveX control in the Indexing Service in Microsoft Windows 2000 SP4, XP SP2 and SP3, and Server 2003 SP2 does not properly process URLs, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary programs via unspecified vectors that cause a "vulnerable binary" to load and run, aka "Memory Corruption in Indexing Service Vulnerability."
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 confidenceA memory corruption vulnerability exists in the Indexing Service ActiveX control in Windows 2000 SP4, XP SP2/SP3, and Server 2003 SP2. The ActiveX control fails to properly validate URLs, allowing remote attackers to trigger arbitrary code execution by causing a vulnerable binary to load and run via unspecified vectors.
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 versionsall versionsall 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
- M
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
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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Confirm your Windows version is within the affected rangeOpen a command prompt and run 'winver' or 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"' to identify the installed Windows version and Service Pack levelAffected if The system runs Windows 2000 (any SP), Windows XP (any SP), or Windows Server 2003 (any SP)
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Verify if Indexing Service is installedOpen Services (services.msc) and look for the 'Indexing Service' entry, or run 'sc query cisvc' from an elevated command promptAffected if Indexing Service is present and installed on the system
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Check if the Indexing Service ActiveX control is registeredCheck the registry under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT for entries related to the Indexing Service ActiveX control (typically under CLSID identifiers), or examine the presence of the cisvc.exe binary in the system directoryAffected if The Indexing Service ActiveX control (cisvc.exe or related COM component) is registered and present on the system
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Determine if ActiveX controls are enabled in Internet ExplorerOpen Internet Explorer, go to Tools > Internet Options > Security > Custom Level, and review the 'ActiveX controls and plug-ins' settings, or check the registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\ZoneMap\Domains for ActiveX control policy settingsAffected if ActiveX controls are allowed to run (particularly in the Internet or Intranet zones) without explicit prompts or blocks
You are affected if your system runs an affected Windows version (2000, XP, or Server 2003) AND has the Indexing Service installed with its ActiveX control present AND allows ActiveX controls to execute in your browser environment.
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 dataApply Microsoft security patches for CVE-2009-2507. If patches are unavailable for end-of-life systems, disable the Indexing Service ActiveX control via Internet Explorer settings or registry restrictions, or migrate to supported Windows versions.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,600.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2009-2507 — 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-2009-2507 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