CVE-2016-3201
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 Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 Gold and R2, Windows 10 Gold and 1511, and Microsoft Edge allow remote attackers to obtain sensitive information from process memory via a crafted PDF document, aka "Windows PDF Information Disclosure Vulnerability," a different vulnerability than CVE-2016-3215.
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 · moderate confidenceA vulnerability in the Windows PDF library allows remote attackers to obtain sensitive information from process memory via a specially crafted PDF document opened in Microsoft Edge or other Windows PDF handling components.
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 dataall versionsall versions= 1511all versionsall versionsCVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check your Windows versionRun 'winver' or 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"' to identify the exact Windows version. Verify if it matches Windows 10 (all versions, specifically build 1511), Windows 8.1, or Windows Server 2012.Affected if The system runs Windows 10 (any version), Windows 8.1, or Windows Server 2012 without the MS16-080 security update applied.
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Verify if Microsoft Edge or Windows PDF library is in useCheck if Microsoft Edge is installed (present in C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\ or C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Edge\Application\) or if Windows PDF library components (pdf.dll or pdfforge.dll in system directories) are present.Affected if Microsoft Edge or Windows PDF handling components are present and available for processing PDF documents.
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Check if MS16-080 security update is installedRun 'wmic qfe list' or check Windows Update history for security update KB3156058 (for Windows 10) or KB3162343 (for Windows 8.1/Server 2012). In PowerShell: 'Get-HotFix | Where-Object {$_.Description -like "Security Update"} | Select-Object HotFixID, InstalledOn'Affected if The specific security update from MS16-080 is NOT installed on the system.
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Confirm PDF processing capability is enabledAttempt to open a test PDF file using the default handler, or check file association for .pdf files (HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.pdf) to see if it points to Windows PDF library components.Affected if PDF files are associated with or processed by built-in Windows PDF handling components rather than third-party readers.
A user is affected if their system runs Windows 10, Windows 8.1, or Windows Server 2012 with Microsoft Edge or Windows PDF library present, and the MS16-080 security update has not been applied.
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 the relevant Microsoft security update (MS16-080) to affected Windows systems, and exercise caution when opening PDF documents from untrusted sources.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,272.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-3201 — 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-2016-3201 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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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.
- 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