CVE-2010-3967
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 · uneditedUntrusted search path vulnerability in Microsoft Windows Movie Maker (WMM) 2.6 allows local users to gain privileges via a Trojan horse DLL in the current working directory, as demonstrated by a directory that contains a Movie Maker (MSWMM) file, aka "Insecure Library Loading 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 confidenceUntrusted search path vulnerability in Windows Movie Maker 2.6 allows DLL hijacking. When the application opens an MSWMM file from a directory, it loads DLLs from that same working directory without validation, enabling a local attacker to place a malicious DLL and achieve privilege escalation.
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= 2.6CVSS 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
- M
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/AC:M/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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Confirm Windows Movie Maker versionLocate the Movie Maker installation (typically in Program Files) and check the version property of moviemk.exe, or use the command: reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\moviemk.exe" to find the path, then check the file versionAffected if The installed version is exactly 2.6
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Verify .mswmm file association existsCheck Windows registry for the .mswmm file extension association under HKCR\.mswmm or use the command: assoc .mswmmAffected if The .mswmm file type is registered to Movie Maker, indicating the application can open these files
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Identify where MSWMM files are storedSearch for .mswmm files on the system using: dir /s /b C:\*.mswmm 2>nul or check common user directories like Documents, Downloads, and DesktopAffected if MSWMM files exist in directories writable by other users or in locations accessed by multiple users
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Test the DLL loading behaviorCreate a test directory with a harmless DLL (with a name Movie Maker might load) and an MSWMM file, then launch Movie Maker from that directory while monitoring DLL loading with Process Monitor from SysinternalsAffected if Movie Maker loads DLLs from its working directory without validation, confirming the vulnerable behavior
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Review file opening practicesDocument typical workflows: determine if users commonly open MSWMM files from email attachments, Downloads folder, network shares, or other shared directoriesAffected if Users open MSWMM files from directories where untrusted parties could place malicious DLLs
You are affected if Windows Movie Maker version 2.6 is installed AND the application loads DLLs from the working directory when opening MSWMM files, combined with users opening these files from untrusted or shared directories.
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 Microsoft security update for CVE-2010-3967. Until patched, avoid opening MSWMM files from directories you do not control, and ensure the application is launched from trusted locations with clean directory paths.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2010-3967 — 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-2010-3967 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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