CVE-2013-3905
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 · uneditedMicrosoft Outlook 2007 SP3, 2010 SP1 and SP2, 2013, and 2013 RT does not properly expand metadata contained in S/MIME certificates, which allows remote attackers to obtain sensitive network configuration and state information via a crafted certificate in an e-mail message, aka "S/MIME AIA 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 confidenceMicrosoft Outlook fails to properly sanitize metadata in S/MIME certificates (specifically the AIA extension). When a user receives a specially crafted certificate embedded in an email, Outlook processes the metadata without proper validation, allowing an attacker to extract sensitive network configuration and state information.
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= 2007= 2010= 2013CVSS 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
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed Outlook versionOpen Outlook, go to File > Office Account > About Outlook, or check the version in the application's About dialog. Alternatively, examine the executable properties of OUTLOOK.EXE.Affected if The version displayed is exactly 2007, 2010, or 2013 (no service pack or subsequent version numbers shown after these base versions).
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Determine if S/MIME is enabledIn Outlook, go to File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Email Security. Observe whether 'Encrypt email messages' or 'Add digital signature to outgoing messages' options are configured or enabled.Affected if S/MIME settings are configured or the user regularly receives/sends signed or encrypted emails.
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Verify if security update MS13-104 is installedOpen Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features > View installed updates. Search for update KB2837598 (for Outlook 2007), KB2837599 (for Outlook 2010), or KB2837600 (for Outlook 2013).Affected if The specific KB update for MS13-104 is NOT listed in the installed updates, indicating the patch has not been applied.
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Assess exposure to untrusted email sourcesReview recent email messages, particularly those containing attached certificate files (.p7s, .cer, .p12) or links to external AIA/CA locations. Check email filtering settings and sender reputation of received messages.Affected if Emails containing S/MIME certificates from external or untrusted senders have been processed by the Outlook client.
A user is affected if they run an unpatched Outlook 2007, 2010, or 2013 version and process S/MIME certificates from the AIA extension without MS13-104 installed.
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 Microsoft security update MS13-104 (or subsequent cumulative updates) to affected Outlook versions. Until patched, exercise caution with emails from untrusted sources containing S/MIME certificates or attachments.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2013-3905 — 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-2013-3905 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data