CVE-2012-0016
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 · uneditedUntrusted search path vulnerability in Microsoft Expression Design; Expression Design SP1; and Expression Design 2, 3, and 4 allows local users to gain privileges via a Trojan horse DLL in the current working directory, as demonstrated by a directory that contains a .xpr or .DESIGN file, aka "Expression Design Insecure Library Loading 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 DLL hijacking (untrusted search path) vulnerability in Microsoft Expression Design. The application loads DLLs from the current working directory without proper validation, allowing an attacker to place a malicious DLL in a directory containing .xpr or .DESIGN files. When a user opens a file from that directory, the malicious DLL is loaded, enabling local privilege escalation.
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 versions= 2= 3= 4CVSS 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
- Network
- Complexity
- M
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/AC:M/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 Expression Design installationCheck if Microsoft Expression Design is installed on the system by looking in Program Files for the Expression folder, or check the Windows Registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Expression\Design or HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Expression\DesignAffected if Expression Design is found to be installed and the version falls within versions 2, 3, or 4
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Confirm installed version numberOpen Expression Design and go to Help > About, or check the version in the Windows Registry under the installation key identified in the previous stepAffected if The installed version is 2, 3, or 4 (any of these versions are affected since all versions are vulnerable)
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Identify directories containing design filesSearch the system for .xpr and .DESIGN files using the command: dir /s /b C:\*.xpr C:\*.DESIGN 2>nul (or use File Explorer search)Affected if There are .xpr or .DESIGN files located in directories that are writable by other users, such as shared network drives, downloads folder, or desktop
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Check for untrusted file locationsReview the file locations found in the previous step and determine if any are in locations where untrusted users could place malicious DLLs (shared drives, download directories, public folders)Affected if Design files exist in directories with weak access controls or directories accessible to other users
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Verify DLL search path behaviorAttempt to open a .xpr or .DESIGN file from a test directory while monitoring DLL loading with Process Monitor (procmon.exe) from Sysinternals, filtering by the Expression Design process nameAffected if The application loads DLLs from the current working directory rather than using only secure paths like the application directory or system directories
The environment is affected if Microsoft Expression Design versions 2, 3, or 4 is installed AND design files can be opened from directories where an attacker could place a malicious DLL.
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.
dbcve · scopedOrganizations should restrict write access to directories containing .xpr and .DESIGN files, implement application whitelisting, and ensure users do not open design files from untrusted or shared network locations. Microsoft released patches for affected versions that should be applied if available.
- Check for and install the relevant Microsoft security update for CVE-2012-0016 from the Microsoft Download Center or through Windows Update
- Verify the security update is installed by checking Add/Remove Programs for the Expression Design security update
- Alternatively, ensure Windows Update is configured to automatically download and install Microsoft security updates
- After patching, avoid opening .xpr or .DESIGN files from untrusted or shared network directories to reduce DLL hijacking risk
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-0016 — 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-2012-0016 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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