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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 22 Jun 2022.
Windows 7Operating system · Microsoft

CVE-2012-0151

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2012-04-10
Patch available
A vendor patch is available. No clean upgrade release — apply the published patch.
See remediation →
97/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild High EPSS No privileges Patch available

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 · unedited
The Authenticode Signature Verification function in Microsoft Windows XP SP2 and SP3, Windows Server 2003 SP2, Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008 SP2, R2, and R2 SP1, Windows 7 Gold and SP1, and Windows 8 Consumer Preview does not properly validate the digest of a signed portable executable (PE) file, which allows user-assisted remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a modified file with additional content, aka "WinVerifyTrust Signature Validation 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 confidence

The WinVerifyTrust Authenticode signature verification API in multiple Windows versions fails to properly validate the digest of signed portable executable (PE) files. Attackers can append malicious content to a legitimately signed executable while maintaining a valid digital signature, allowing arbitrary code execution when the modified file is run.

MitigationApply Microsoft security updates for this vulnerability; until patched, exercise extreme caution with executable files from untrusted sources and consider implementing application whitelisting as a defense-in-depth control.

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
Windows 7Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows Server 2003Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows Server 2008Operating system
Affected:all versions= r2
Windows VistaOperating system
Affected:all versions
Windows XpOperating system
Affected:all versions

CVSS 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
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify Windows version
    Run 'winver' or 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"' to determine the installed Windows version
    Affected if The version is Windows 7, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista, or Windows XP (all versions of these products are affected)
  2. Check for security updates
    Open Control Panel > Programs > View installed updates, or run 'wmic qfe list' to list installed hotfixes. Look for any Microsoft security updates related to Authenticode or WinVerifyTrust
    Affected if No security update addressing this vulnerability has been installed (the system remains unpatched)
  3. Verify file signature validation behavior
    Use PowerShell 'Get-AuthenticodeSignature' cmdlet on a PE file, or use the 'sigverif' tool (Signature Verification) to check how signatures are validated
    Affected if The system validates signatures using the vulnerable WinVerifyTrust API without proper digest validation, allowing appended content to be overlooked

A user is affected if they are running any unpatched version of Windows 7, Server 2003, Server 2008, Vista, or XP where the WinVerifyTrust API has not been updated to properly validate PE file digests.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 · scoped
Patch available Apply the vendor patch
Vendor patch docs.microsoft.com →
Interim mitigation

Apply Microsoft security updates for this vulnerability; until patched, exercise extreme caution with executable files from untrusted sources and consider implementing application whitelisting as a defense-in-depth control.

Recommended fix High confidence

Apply Microsoft Security Bulletin MS12-024; for end-of-life systems (Windows XP, Windows Server 2003), upgrade to a supported Windows version

  1. Open Windows Update or Microsoft Update on the affected system
  2. Search for security update MS12-024 (Windows Authenticode Signature Verification Vulnerability)
  3. Apply the update for your specific Windows version (Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7)
  4. Restart the system when prompted
  5. Verify the update was installed successfully via Windows Update history
Caveat Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 are end-of-life and do not receive security updates; legacy systems may require testing before applying patches

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Windows 7 Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
28.0 hours of engineering $4,980
Get it fixed fast

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $7,968.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-0151 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2012-0151 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data