CVE-2010-5177
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 Sophos Endpoint Security and Control 9.0.5 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: the vendor disputes this issue 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 · high confidenceRace condition in Sophos Endpoint Security and Control 9.0.5 on Windows XP allows local users to bypass kernel-mode hook handlers by making user-space memory changes during hook-handler execution. This 'argument-switch' or 'KHOBE' attack enables execution of code that would be blocked by behavioral handlers but not caught by signature-based malware detection.
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= 9.0.5CVSS 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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Verify Sophos Endpoint Security installationCheck the Windows registry at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Sophos\ or look in Add/Remove Programs for Sophos Endpoint Security and Control. Use 'wmic product get name,version' or check Program Files for Sophos folder.Affected if Sophos Endpoint Security and Control is not installed or the product is not present.
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Identify the installed versionRun 'wmic product where "name like 'Sophos%'" get name,version' or check the About/Version dialog within the Sophos GUI. Alternatively, check the registry value at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Sophos\EE\Install\Version.Affected if The installed version is exactly 9.0.5.
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Confirm operating system is Windows XPRun 'winver' or 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"' to identify the Windows version.Affected if The system is running Windows XP (any version). The vulnerability is specific to XP.
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Check if behavioral/heuristic protection is activeOpen Sophos Endpoint Security and Control, go to Configure > Update settings > Scanning Options, or check the on-access scanning status via the system tray icon. Look for 'Behavioral Detection' or 'Heuristic' scanning.Affected if Behavioral or heuristic scanning is enabled - this is the protection being bypassed.
The environment is affected only if Sophos Endpoint Security and Control version 9.0.5 is installed on Windows XP with behavioral/heuristic scanning enabled.
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 dataUpgrade from Sophos Endpoint Security 9.0.5 to a current supported version, and migrate from Windows XP to a supported Windows version as XP is end-of-life. The vendor disputed the severity, claiming the issue only applies when malicious code is already executing.
- 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-2010-5177 — 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-2010-5177 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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