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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 13 Aug 2024.
Internet ExplorerApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2012-4792

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2012-12-30
Patch available
A vendor patch is available. No clean upgrade release — apply the published patch.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild High EPSS Public exploit Remotely reachable 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
Use-after-free vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 through 8 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted web site that triggers access to an object that (1) was not properly allocated or (2) is deleted, as demonstrated by a CDwnBindInfo object, and exploited in the wild in December 2012.

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

CVE-2012-4792 is a use-after-free vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 6 through 8. The flaw occurs when the browser attempts to access a CDwnBindInfo object that was not properly allocated or has been deleted, allowing remote attackers to execute arbitrary code. This vulnerability was actively exploited in the wild in December 2012.

MitigationUpgrade from Internet Explorer 6-8 to a supported browser version (IE 11, Edge, Chrome, Firefox) or migrate to modern web platforms, as older IE versions are obsolete and receive no security updates.

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
Internet ExplorerApplication
Affected:= 6= 7= 8

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/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. Check Internet Explorer installed version
    Open Internet Explorer, click Help > About Internet Explorer, or run 'reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer" /v Version' in Command Prompt
    Affected if The version shown is 6.x, 7.x, or 8.x
  2. Identify Windows version
    Run 'winver' or check System Properties to determine the Windows version
    Affected if Running any supported Windows version with IE 6-8 installed (Windows XP had IE8, Vista had IE7, etc.)
  3. Verify if vulnerability was patched
    Check installed updates for KB2799329 in Control Panel > Programs > View installed updates, or run 'wmic qfe list | findstr KB2799329'
    Affected if KB2799329 is NOT listed among installed updates and IE version is 6, 7, or 8

The environment is affected if Internet Explorer version 6, 7, or 8 is installed and security update KB2799329 has not been applied.

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 technet.microsoft.com →
Interim mitigation

Upgrade from Internet Explorer 6-8 to a supported browser version (IE 11, Edge, Chrome, Firefox) or migrate to modern web platforms, as older IE versions are obsolete and receive no security updates.

Recommended fix High confidence

Internet Explorer 9 or later; alternatively Microsoft Edge or modern third-party browsers

  1. 1. Discontinue use of Internet Explorer 6, 7, and 8 immediately as they are no longer supported.
  2. 2. Upgrade to Internet Explorer 9 or later on supported Windows systems.
  3. 3. If the system cannot support IE 9+, migrate to Microsoft Edge (the modern Windows 10/11 default browser) or an alternative browser such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Brave.
  4. 4. Ensure the upgraded browser is set as the default to prevent fallback to vulnerable IE versions.
  5. 5. Verify that legacy applications requiring older IE versions are identified and either updated or run in Enterprise Mode/IE Mode where supported.
Caveat Some legacy web applications designed specifically for IE 6-8 may not function properly in newer browsers; legacy ActiveX controls and IE-specific features will not work

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

Fix this in Internet Explorer Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
Get it fixed fast

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,424.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-4792 — 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-2012-4792 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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