CVE-2016-3205
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 · uneditedThe Microsoft (1) JScript 5.8 and (2) VBScript 5.7 and 5.8 engines, as used in Internet Explorer 9 through 11 and other products, allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via a crafted web site, aka "Scripting Engine Memory Corruption Vulnerability," a different vulnerability than CVE-2016-3206 and CVE-2016-3207.
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 confidenceMemory corruption vulnerability in Microsoft JScript 5.8 and VBScript 5.7/5.8 scripting engines used in Internet Explorer 9-11 and other products. Remote attackers can achieve arbitrary code execution or cause denial of service through specially crafted websites exploiting the memory corruption.
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= 5.8= 5.7= 5.8CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Determine installed JScript versionRun the following VBScript to query the JScript version: CreateObject("ScriptControl").AddCode("Function GetJScriptVer(): GetJScriptVer = ScriptEngineMajorVersion & "." & ScriptEngineMinorVersion: End Function").Run("GetJScriptVer") or check the JScript.dll file version in System32Affected if The version reported is 5.8
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Determine installed VBScript versionRun the following VBScript to query the VBScript version: CreateObject("ScriptControl").AddCode("Function GetVBScriptVer(): GetVBScriptVer = ScriptEngineMajorVersion & "." & ScriptEngineMinorVersion: End Function").Run("GetVBScriptVer") or check the VBScript.dll file version in System32Affected if The version reported is 5.7 or 5.8
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Check scripting engine DLL file versions directlyOpen Command Prompt and run: dir %systemroot%\System32\jscript.dll /a and dir %systemroot%\System32\vbscript.dll /a to see file versions. Use "sfc /scannow" or PowerShell Get-ItemProperty to retrieve exact version numbersAffected if jscript.dll reports version 5.8.XXXX or vbscript.dll reports version 5.7.XXXX or 5.8.XXXX
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Confirm scripting engine is accessible to applicationsVerify that JScript or VBScript can be invoked via COM object creation as shown in steps 1-2, which indicates the vulnerable code path is present on the systemAffected if Scripting engines are present and executable without errors
You are affected if your system has JScript version 5.8 or VBScript version 5.7/5.8 installed and the scripting engines are enabled for use by Internet Explorer or other applications.
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 updates for the affected scripting engine components. Disable JScript/VBScript execution in Internet Explorer or restrict ActiveX scripting if immediate patching is not feasible.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-3205 — 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-2016-3205 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