CVE-2010-3498
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 · uneditedAVG Anti-Virus does not properly interact with the processing of hcp:// URLs by the Microsoft Help and Support Center, which makes it easier for remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via malware that is correctly detected by this product, but with a detection approach that occurs too late to stop the code execution.
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 · moderate confidenceAVG Anti-Virus fails to intercept malicious code delivered via hcp:// URLs processed by Microsoft Help and Support Center. The antivirus detects the malware but the detection occurs after the malicious code has already executed - a race condition where the exploit succeeds before scanning can block it.
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 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
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:P
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 AVG Anti-Virus is installedCheck for AVG installation via registry key (HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\AVG) or by locating avg.exe in Program FilesAffected if AVG Anti-Virus is present on the system - this is the affected product
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Verify Microsoft Help and Support Center existsCheck for the presence of HelpCtr.exe or hcp.dll in the Windows system directory (typically C:\Windows\System32\)Affected if The Help and Support Center component (helpctr.exe) is present and can handle hcp:// protocol URLs
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Confirm hcp:// protocol handler is registeredCheck Windows registry for hcp:// protocol handler under HKCR\hcp or verify the handler associates with Help and Support CenterAffected if The hcp:// protocol handler is registered and points to the Help and Support Center executable
A user is affected if AVG Anti-Virus is installed and the Microsoft Help and Support Center (hcp:// URL handler) is present on the system, creating the race condition where malicious hcp:// URLs can execute before AVG's on-access scanner can intercept them.
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 AVG Anti-Virus updates as they become available. Additionally, apply Microsoft's MS10-042 patch for the Help and Support Center hcp:// URL handling vulnerability to eliminate the underlying exploitation vector.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2010-3498 — 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-2010-3498 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
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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