CVE-2011-2010
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 · uneditedThe Microsoft Office Input Method Editor (IME) for Simplified Chinese in Microsoft Pinyin IME 2010, Office Pinyin SimpleFast Style 2010, and Office Pinyin New Experience Style 2010 does not properly restrict access to configuration options, which allows local users to gain privileges via the Microsoft Pinyin (aka MSPY) IME toolbar, aka "Pinyin IME Elevation 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 confidenceThis is a local privilege escalation vulnerability in Microsoft's Chinese Pinyin Input Method Editor (IME) products. The IME fails to properly restrict access to configuration options, allowing a local unprivileged user to gain elevated privileges through the MSPY IME toolbar.
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= 2010= 2010= 2010CVSS 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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Identify if Microsoft Pinyin IME is installedOpen Control Panel > Programs and Features, or run 'appwiz.cpl' and look for any Microsoft Pinyin IME entry (Microsoft Pinyin Ime, Microsoft Pinyin New Experience Style, or Microsoft Pinyin Simple Fast Style)Affected if Any of the three listed Pinyin IME products appears in the installed programs list
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Verify the installed versionRight-click the Pinyin IME entry in Programs and Features and select 'Change' or 'Properties', or check the file version of the IME executable in the installation directory (typically under C:\Program Files\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Pinyin IME\)Affected if The version is listed as 2010 or matches the affected version range exactly
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Confirm the MSPY IME toolbar is accessibleWhile logged in as a standard (non-admin) user, look for the Microsoft Pinyin IME toolbar in the system tray or taskbar, right-click it, and verify whether 'Settings' or configuration options are accessible without administrator promptsAffected if A standard user can access IME configuration or settings without elevation prompts
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Check for the vulnerable msime.exe processOpen Task Manager or run 'tasklist' from command prompt and look for msime.exe running, which indicates the IME is active and the vulnerable component is loadedAffected if msime.exe is running and accessible to the current user context
A user is affected if any version of Microsoft Pinyin IME 2010 is installed and the MSPY IME toolbar configuration options are accessible to unprivileged users.
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 relevant Microsoft security update (MS11-071) to patch the affected Pinyin IME installations, or disable the vulnerable IME if patching is not feasible.
- Consultation2.0 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-2011-2010 — 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-2011-2010 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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