JscriptApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2016-0002

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-01-13
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
82/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges

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 Microsoft (1) VBScript 5.7 and 5.8 and (2) JScript 5.7 and 5.8 engines, as used in Internet Explorer 8 through 11 and other products, allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted web site, aka "Scripting Engine Memory Corruption 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

Memory corruption vulnerability in VBScript 5.7/5.8 and JScript 5.7/5.8 scripting engines used in Internet Explorer 8-11 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via maliciously crafted web pages.

MitigationApply Microsoft security updates addressing this vulnerability; alternatively, disable VBScript/JScript execution in Internet Explorer or enable Enhanced Protected Mode to reduce attack surface.

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
JscriptApplication
Affected:= 5.7= 5.8
VbscriptApplication
Affected:= 5.7= 5.8

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

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/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 Internet Explorer version
    Open Internet Explorer, go to Help > About Internet Explorer, or run 'winver' from command prompt to check the IE version
    Affected if IE version is 8, 9, 10, or 11 - only these versions use the affected scripting engines
  2. Check JScript engine version
    Navigate to C:\Windows\System32\jscript.dll, right-click and select Properties, then view the Details tab for File Version. Alternatively, run 'powershell (Get-ItemProperty C:\Windows\System32\jscript.dll).VersionInfo'
    Affected if File version shows 5.7.x or 5.8.x indicating JScript 5.7 or 5.8 is installed
  3. Check VBScript engine version
    Navigate to C:\Windows\System32\vbscript.dll, right-click and select Properties, then view the Details tab for File Version. Alternatively, run 'powershell (Get-ItemProperty C:\Windows\System32\vbscript.dll).VersionInfo'
    Affected if File version shows 5.7.x or 5.8.x indicating VBScript 5.7 or 5.8 is installed
  4. Verify Enhanced Protected Mode status
    In Internet Explorer, go to Internet Options > Security tab, click on each zone (Internet, Intranet, Trusted Sites, Restricted Sites) and check if 'Enable Enhanced Protected Mode' is checked for that zone
    Affected if Enhanced Protected Mode is disabled for the Internet zone - this reduces the mitigation benefit

Your environment is affected if you have Internet Explorer 8-11 with JScript or VBScript version 5.7 or 5.8 installed, and Enhanced Protected Mode is not enabled for the Internet zone.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply Microsoft security updates addressing this vulnerability; alternatively, disable VBScript/JScript execution in Internet Explorer or enable Enhanced Protected Mode to reduce attack surface.

Fix this in Jscript Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-0002 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2016-0002 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