dbcve.org
Windows 7Operating system · Microsoft

CVE-2010-0269

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2010-04-14
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
The SMB client in Microsoft Windows 2000 SP4, Windows XP SP2 and SP3, Windows Server 2003 SP2, Windows Vista Gold, SP1, and SP2, Windows Server 2008 Gold, SP2, and R2, and Windows 7 does not properly allocate memory for SMB responses, which allows remote SMB servers and man-in-the-middle attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted (1) SMBv1 or (2) SMBv2 response, aka "SMB Client Memory Allocation 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

The SMB client in multiple Windows versions fails to properly allocate memory when processing SMB responses, allowing memory corruption via crafted SMBv1 or SMBv2 packets. Remote attackers or man-in-the-middle actors can trigger a buffer overflow to achieve arbitrary code execution on affected clients.

MitigationApply Microsoft security updates for this vulnerability (MS10-006). If immediate patching is not possible, block outbound SMB traffic (TCP port 445) at the perimeter to limit exposure to malicious SMB servers.

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 7Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows 2000Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows XpOperating system
Affected:all versions
Windows 2003 ServerOperating system
Affected:all versions
Windows Server 2003Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows Server 2008Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows VistaOperating 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
Network
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:L/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 checks

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

  1. Identify Windows version
    Run 'winver' or 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"' from command prompt to determine the installed Windows version.
    Affected if The version is Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 2003 Server, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows Server 2008 (any edition).
  2. Verify SMB client service is present
    Open Services console (services.msc) or run 'sc query mrxsmb20' and 'sc query mrxdav' to check if SMB client components are installed.
    Affected if The SMB client service (MRxSMB20 or related) exists on the system, indicating SMB client functionality is available.
  3. Check for SMB client listening or active connections
    Run 'netstat -an | findstr "445"' to see if SMB port 445 is listening, or check active connections with 'netstat -an | findstr "445"' to identify outbound SMB sessions.
    Affected if Port 445 is listening (indicating SMB server role) or active outbound SMB connections exist, showing the SMB client is being used.

A system is affected if it runs any version of Windows 2000, XP, 2003 Server, Vista, 7, or Server 2008 and has the SMB client component enabled or in use, as the vulnerability triggers when processing SMB responses from a remote server.

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

Apply Microsoft security updates for this vulnerability (MS10-006). If immediate patching is not possible, block outbound SMB traffic (TCP port 445) at the perimeter to limit exposure to malicious SMB servers.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to a supported Windows version (Windows 10/11 or Windows Server 2016+) if the system is end-of-life (Windows 2000, XP SP2/SP3, Windows 2003)

  1. Open Windows Update or check Microsoft Update catalog for security updates
  2. Install Microsoft Security Bulletin MS10-006 (KB971468) which addresses this vulnerability
  3. If updates are not available (end-of-life systems like Windows 2000, Windows XP SP2), disable SMB client compression via registry: HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters - set 'DisableCompression' to 1 ( DWORD)
  4. Alternatively, disable SMBv1 and SMBv2 on the client if not needed: run 'sc.exe config lanmanworkstation depend= bowser/mrxsmb20' then restart
  5. For systems that support it, apply all subsequent Windows security updates to maintain protection
Caveat Disabling SMBv1 may break compatibility with legacy systems that only support SMBv1; registry modifications require administrator privileges and a system restart

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

Fix this in Windows 7 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
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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-2010-0269 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