CVE-2010-2742
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 Netlogon RPC Service in Microsoft Windows Server 2003 SP2 and Server 2008 Gold, SP2, and R2, when the domain controller role is enabled, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and reboot) via a crafted RPC packet, aka "Netlogon RPC Null dereference DOS 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 confidenceThis is a NULL pointer dereference vulnerability in the Netlogon RPC service on Windows Server 2003 SP2 and Server 2008 (Gold, SP2, R2) when the domain controller role is enabled. Remote attackers can send a crafted RPC packet to trigger the NULL pointer dereference, causing an immediate system reboot and denial of service.
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 versions= r2CVSS 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
- High
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/AC:H/Au:N/C:N/I:N/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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Identify the Windows Server versionRun 'winver' or check system properties, or use 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"' to confirm the installed Windows versionAffected if The version is Windows Server 2003 (any build) or Windows Server 2008 (including R2, any build)
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Determine if the Domain Controller role is enabledRun 'netdom query /domain:YOUR_DOMAIN_NAME fsmo' or check Server Manager > Roles > Active Directory Domain Services, or use 'dsquery server -domain %userdomain% -hasfsmo pdc'Affected if The server is configured as a Domain Controller (the vulnerability only applies when the DC role is present)
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Verify the Netlogon service is runningRun 'sc query netlogon' or check Services console for the 'Netlogon' service statusAffected if The Netlogon RPC service is started and running on the domain controller
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Assess network exposure to the Netlogon RPC endpointRun 'netsh rpc filter show filter' or use 'netstat -an | findstr "464"' to check if port 464 (Netlogon RPC) is listening on external interfacesAffected if The server is accessible on port 464/TCP from untrusted networks (the attack vector requires sending crafted RPC packets to this endpoint)
The environment is affected if the system runs Windows Server 2003 or 2008 with the Domain Controller role enabled and the Netlogon service is exposed to network attackers who can send RPC packets to port 464.
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 the relevant Microsoft security update for this vulnerability. If patching is not immediately possible, consider restricting RPC access to the Netlogon service via network segmentation or firewall rules to limit exposure to untrusted networks.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing5.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2010-2742 — 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-2010-2742 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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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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