CVE-2010-5166
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 · uneditedRace condition in McAfee Total Protection 2010 10.0.580 on Windows XP allows local users to bypass kernel-mode hook handlers, and execute dangerous code that would otherwise be blocked by a handler but not blocked by signature-based malware detection, via certain user-space memory changes during hook-handler execution, aka an argument-switch attack or a KHOBE attack. NOTE: this issue is disputed by some third parties because it is a flaw in a protection mechanism for situations where a crafted program has already begun to execute
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 confidenceMcAfee Total Protection 2010 contains a race condition where a local attacker can manipulate user-space memory during kernel-mode hook-handler execution, allowing dangerous code to bypass hook-based security checks while still evading signature-based detection. This 'argument-switch' or 'KHOBE' attack exploits timing windows in the security software's interception mechanism.
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= 10.0.580CVSS 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
- High
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:L/AC:H/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 installed McAfee productOpen Control Panel > Programs and Features, or run 'wmic product get name,version' to list installed software. Look for 'McAfee Total Protection 2010' in the output.Affected if McAfee Total Protection 2010 is listed as an installed program
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Verify the exact version numberRight-click on the McAfee Total Protection 2010 entry in Programs and Features and select 'Properties', or right-click the McAfee icon in system tray and select 'About'. Note the version displayed.Affected if The version shown is exactly 10.0.580
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Confirm the software is activeCheck if the McAfee icon appears in the system tray (bottom-right of desktop) with a green or red status indicator, or open the McAfee console to verify the protection is enabled and running.Affected if Total Protection 2010 version 10.0.580 is currently installed and running with active protection modules
If McAfee Total Protection 2010 version 10.0.580 is installed and running on the system, the environment is affected by this CVE.
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 dataSince Total Protection 2010 is end-of-life software, upgrade to a supported McAfee product or alternative endpoint protection solution; apply latest Windows updates and consider application whitelisting as defense-in-depth.
- Consultation1.0 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-2010-5166 — 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-2010-5166 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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