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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 15 Jun 2022.
SilverlightApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2013-3896

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2013-10-09
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.1.20913.0 or later.
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
Microsoft Silverlight 5 before 5.1.20913.0 does not properly validate pointers during access to Silverlight elements, which allows remote attackers to obtain sensitive information via a crafted Silverlight application, aka "Silverlight 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

This is an information disclosure vulnerability in Microsoft Silverlight 5 versions prior to 5.1.20913.0. The vulnerability stems from improper pointer validation when accessing Silverlight elements, allowing a crafted malicious Silverlight application to read sensitive information from memory that should not be accessible.

MitigationUpdate Microsoft Silverlight to version 5.1.20913.0 or later through Microsoft's update mechanisms or by downloading the latest version from the official Microsoft website.

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
SilverlightApplication
Affected:>= 5.0, < 5.1.20913.0

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
None
Availability
None

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

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. Verify Silverlight is installed
    Open Control Panel > Programs and Features, or run 'appwiz.cpl', and look for Microsoft Silverlight in the installed programs list
    Affected if Silverlight is not present in the installed programs list
  2. Check Silverlight version via registry
    Open Registry Editor (regedit) and navigate to HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Silverlight (or HKLM\Software\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Silverlight for 64-bit). Read the 'Version' value in the right pane
    Affected if The Version value is empty or the program is not found at all
  3. Compare version against affected range
    If the version key exists, read the full version number (for example, 5.1.20512.0) and compare it numerically to 5.1.20913.0
    Affected if The installed version is 5.0.x.x through 5.1.20912.x (any version 5.0 or higher but less than 5.1.20913.0)
  4. Check browser plugin status
    Open your web browser's add-on or extension manager and verify whether the Silverlight plugin is enabled. In Internet Explorer, go to Manage Add-ons > Silverlight
    Affected if The Silverlight browser plugin is enabled and the version falls within the affected range

The environment is affected if Microsoft Silverlight version 5.0 or higher but lower than 5.1.20913.0 is installed and the Silverlight browser plugin is enabled.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 5.1.20913.0 or later
Fixed in 5.1.20913.0
Vendor patch docs.microsoft.com →
Interim mitigation

Update Microsoft Silverlight to version 5.1.20913.0 or later through Microsoft's update mechanisms or by downloading the latest version from the official Microsoft website.

Recommended fix High confidence

Silverlight 5.1.20913.0 or later

  1. Check the current Microsoft Silverlight version by navigating to https://www.microsoft.com/silverlight/ version checker or checking Programs and Features in Control Panel
  2. Download Microsoft Silverlight version 5.1.20913.0 or later from the official Microsoft Silverlight download page (https://www.microsoft.com/silverlight/)
  3. Close all web browsers that may be running Silverlight content
  4. Install the Silverlight update by running the downloaded installer
  5. Restart any web browsers and verify the new version is installed by checking the Silverlight version again
  6. Ensure any applications relying on Silverlight are tested after the update
Caveat Microsoft Silverlight reached end of support on October 12, 2021; consider migrating away from Silverlight as it is deprecated technology with no further security updates

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

Fix this in Silverlight Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,040
Get it fixed fast

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,664.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2013-3896 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