CVE-2011-0090
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 · uneditedwin32k.sys in the kernel-mode drivers in Microsoft Windows XP SP2 and SP3, Windows Server 2003 SP2, Windows Vista SP1 and SP2, Windows Server 2008 Gold, SP2, and R2, and Windows 7 does not properly validate user-mode input, which allows local users to gain privileges via a crafted application, aka "Win32k Memory Corruption 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 confidenceA memory corruption vulnerability exists in win32k.sys where the kernel-mode driver fails to properly validate user-mode input, allowing a local attacker to inject malicious code and escalate privileges to kernel/SYSTEM level by crafting a specially designed application.
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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Verify your Windows version is affectedOpen Command Prompt and run 'winver' or 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"'. Check if the system runs Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2003, or Windows Server 2008.Affected if The system runs any version of Windows XP, Vista, 7, Server 2003, or Server 2008.
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Confirm win32k.sys is presentOpen Command Prompt and navigate to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\ and verify win32k.sys exists. Run 'dir C:\Windows\System32\drivers\win32k.sys'.Affected if The win32k.sys driver file exists on the system (which it does by default on affected Windows versions).
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Check if MS11-009 update is installedOpen Command Prompt and run 'wmic qfe get hotfixid,installedon | findstr /i "MS11-009"' or check via Control Panel > Programs > View installed updates for security update KB2478960 or KB2478657 (the MS11-009 patches).Affected if The MS11-009 security update (KB2478960 or KB2478657) is NOT listed as installed.
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Verify win32k.sys version if patch not detectedRight-click on win32k.sys in C:\Windows\System32\drivers\, select Properties, then go to the Details tab to view the File Version. Alternatively run 'driverquery /v | findstr win32k'. Compare this version to the patched version released in February 2011.Affected if The win32k.sys version is older than the patched version released with MS11-009.
You are affected if you run any version of Windows XP, Vista, 7, Server 2003, or Server 2008 AND the MS11-009 security update is not installed on the system.
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 MS11-009 (February 2011) via Windows Update or manual patch deployment to remediate the input validation flaw in win32k.sys.
- 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-2011-0090 — 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-2011-0090 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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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- 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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