CVE-2011-1870
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 · uneditedInteger overflow in the Client/Server Run-time Subsystem (aka CSRSS) in the Win32 subsystem in Microsoft Windows XP SP2 and SP3, and Windows Server 2003 SP2, allows local users to gain privileges or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via a crafted application that triggers an incorrect memory assignment for a user transaction, aka "CSRSS Local EOP SrvWriteConsoleOutputString 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 · moderate confidenceInteger overflow in the Win32 CSRSS (Client/Server Run-time Subsystem) when processing SrvWriteConsoleOutputString console API calls. The overflow causes incorrect memory allocation sizing, leading to heap buffer overflow that can be exploited for local privilege escalation or memory corruption causing denial of service.
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 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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Check Windows versionRun 'winver' or 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"' to identify the installed Windows versionAffected if The system is Windows XP (any version) or Windows Server 2003 (any version)
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Verify CSRSS process is runningRun 'tasklist /FI "IMAGENAME eq csrss.exe"' or check Task Manager - CSRSS.exe is a core Windows subsystem process that should always be runningAffected if The system is an affected Windows version AND CSRSS.exe is running (which is always true by default)
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Confirm console functionality is accessibleThe vulnerability exists in the console API handling within CSRSS - verify console applications can be executed or cmd.exe is accessibleAffected if The system is Windows XP or Server 2003 AND console functionality is available (which is enabled by default on these systems)
If the system is running Windows XP or Windows Server 2003, the CSRSS component contains the integer overflow vulnerability in console API handling and the system is affected.
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 MS11-056 (or subsequent relevant patches); if patches are unavailable due to end-of-life status, migrate affected systems to supported Windows versions or implement compensating controls such as restricting interactive logon access.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,600.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2011-1870 — 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-2011-1870 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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