CVE-2010-2743
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 kernel-mode drivers in Microsoft Windows XP SP3 do not properly perform indexing of a function-pointer table during the loading of keyboard layouts from disk, which allows local users to gain privileges via a crafted application, as demonstrated in the wild in July 2010 by the Stuxnet worm, aka "Win32k Keyboard Layout Vulnerability." NOTE: this might be a duplicate of CVE-2010-3888 or CVE-2010-3889.
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 confidenceLocal privilege escalation vulnerability in Windows XP's win32k.sys kernel-mode driver. The driver improperly indexes a function-pointer table when loading keyboard layouts from disk, allowing a local attacker to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges. Exploited in the wild by Stuxnet.
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 versionsall 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the Windows versionRun 'winver' or 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"' from command promptAffected if The version is NOT one of: Windows 2003 Server, Windows 7, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, or Windows XP. If your version is NOT in this list, you are not affected by this CVE.
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Verify if win32k.sys is presentCheck if the file C:\Windows\System32\win32k.sys exists on the systemAffected if If the file does not exist, the system is not running the affected kernel-mode driver and is not affected.
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Check for MS10-046 security updateRun 'wmic qfe list' or check 'Control Panel > Programs > View installed updates' for security update KB981957Affected if If the MS10-046 update (KB981957) is NOT installed, the system may be vulnerable. All affected versions require this patch to remediate the flaw.
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Confirm keyboard layout loading capabilityCheck for presence of keyboard layout files in C:\Windows\System32\ (files with .klg extension) or loaded keyboard layouts via registry at HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard LayoutsAffected if If keyboard layouts can be loaded from disk (the vulnerable code path), and the system lacks the security update, it is potentially exploitable.
A system is affected if it runs any of the listed Windows versions (XP, Vista, 7, Server 2003, Server 2008) AND is missing the MS10-046 security update (KB981957), allowing the win32k.sys vulnerability to be exploited for local privilege escalation via keyboard layout loading.
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 update MS10-046. Since Windows XP is end-of-life, consider migrating to a supported operating system as the long-term remediation.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2010-2743 — 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-2010-2743 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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