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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 24 Mar 2022.
Windows 2000Operating system · Microsoft

CVE-2010-0232

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2010-01-21
Patch available
A vendor patch is available. No clean upgrade release — apply the published patch.
See remediation →
96/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild Public exploit Zero-click Patch available

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
The kernel in Microsoft Windows NT 3.1 through Windows 7, including Windows 2000 SP4, Windows XP SP2 and SP3, Windows Server 2003 SP2, Windows Vista Gold, SP1, and SP2, and Windows Server 2008 Gold and SP2, when access to 16-bit applications is enabled on a 32-bit x86 platform, does not properly validate certain BIOS calls, which allows local users to gain privileges by crafting a VDM_TIB data structure in the Thread Environment Block (TEB), and then calling the NtVdmControl function to start the Windows Virtual DOS Machine (aka NTVDM) subsystem, leading to improperly handled exceptions involving the #GP trap handler (nt!KiTrap0D), aka "Windows Kernel Exception Handler 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 confidence

This is a local privilege escalation vulnerability in the Windows kernel's NTVDM (Virtual DOS Machine) subsystem. When 16-bit application support is enabled on 32-bit x86 platforms, the kernel fails to properly validate BIOS calls. A local attacker can craft a malicious VDM_TIB data structure in the Thread Environment Block (TEB) and call NtVdmControl to trigger an improperly handled exception in the #GP trap handler (nt!KiTrap0D), resulting in elevated privileges.

MitigationApply Microsoft security patches for this vulnerability. If 16-bit application support is not required, disable the NTVDM subsystem via Windows Features or registry to eliminate the attack surface. Restrict local user access to systems as an additional compensating control.

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
Windows 2000Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows 7Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows XpOperating system
Affected:all versions

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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. Verify system architecture is 32-bit x86
    Open Command Prompt and run 'systeminfo | findstr /C:"System Type"' or check the System Information (msinfo32) System Type field. This vulnerability only affects 32-bit x86 platforms.
    Affected if System is not 32-bit x86 (e.g., is 64-bit x64) - the vulnerability does not apply because the NTVDM subsystem behaves differently on 64-bit systems.
  2. Confirm Windows version is in affected list
    Run 'winver' or check System Properties. This vulnerability affects Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows 7 (all versions).
    Affected if Running a Windows version outside the affected list (Windows 2000, XP, 7) - those versions are not affected by this specific CVE.
  3. Verify NTVDM subsystem is present
    Check for the presence of NTVDM.EXE in %SystemRoot%\System32 (typically C:\Windows\System32\ntvdm.exe). If the file exists, the NTVDM subsystem binaries are installed.
    Affected if NTVDM.EXE is not present on the system - the attack surface for this vulnerability does not exist.
  4. Confirm NTVDM is enabled and can run
    Check the Windows Features or Optional Features: run 'optionalfeatures' or look in Control Panel > Programs > Turn Windows features on or off. Verify if 'NT Virtual DOS Machine' or '16-bit application support' is checked/enabled. Alternatively, check registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\VDMDisallowed - if it exists and is set to 1, NTVDM is disabled.
    Affected if NTVDM (16-bit application support) is disabled or unavailable - the vulnerable code path cannot be triggered.
  5. Check if NTVDM subsystem is actively running
    Open Task Manager, go to the Processes tab, and look for NTVDM.EXE running, or run 'tasklist | findstr ntvdm' in Command Prompt. Also check Services for 'NTVDM' service status.
    Affected if NTVDM is not installed/enabled - the specific vulnerable code in the kernel's #GP trap handler for VDM operations cannot be reached.

The system is affected if it is a 32-bit x86 version of Windows 2000, XP, or 7 with NTVDM (16-bit application support) present and enabled, allowing the kernel's vulnerable VDM control path to be triggered.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Patch available Apply the vendor patch
Vendor patch www.microsoft.com →
Interim mitigation

Apply Microsoft security patches for this vulnerability. If 16-bit application support is not required, disable the NTVDM subsystem via Windows Features or registry to eliminate the attack surface. Restrict local user access to systems as an additional compensating control.

Recommended fix High confidence
  1. 1. Apply Microsoft Security Bulletin MS10-015 (KB979682) to patch the kernel vulnerability
  2. 2. For Windows XP systems, ensure Service Pack 3 is installed as SP2 was already end-of-life when this vulnerability was discovered
  3. 3. For Windows 2000 systems, apply the out-of-band update released for this vulnerability
  4. 4. After patching, verify the fix by checking that KB979682 appears in Add/Remove Programs > Show Updates
  5. 5. Alternatively, use Windows Update or WSUS to deploy the security update
Caveat Windows XP SP2 was already end-of-support; users should upgrade to Windows XP SP3 or migrate to a supported OS. Windows 2000 and Windows 7 reached end-of-support; these systems should be migrated to supported Windows versions.

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Windows 2000 Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,560
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2010-0232 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