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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 14 Jun 2022.
Internet ExplorerApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2016-3298

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2016-10-14
Patch available
A vendor patch is available. No clean upgrade release — apply the published patch.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild Remotely reachable 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 Internet Explorer 9 through 11 and the Internet Messaging API in Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008 SP2 and R2 SP1, and Windows 7 SP1 allow remote attackers to determine the existence of arbitrary files via a crafted web site, aka "Internet Explorer Information Disclosure 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 Internet Explorer 9-11 and the Internet Messaging API that allows remote attackers to determine if arbitrary files exist on a targeted system by visiting a crafted website. The vulnerability exploits how the browser and messaging API handle file existence checks.

MitigationApply the relevant Microsoft security updates to affected Windows systems, or migrate from Internet Explorer to Microsoft Edge. Disable IE where possible and enforce Enhanced Security Configuration.

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
Internet ExplorerApplication
Affected:= 9= 10= 11
Windows 7Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows Server 2008Operating system
Affected:all versions= r2
Windows VistaOperating system
Affected:all versions

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

CVSS:3.1/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify Internet Explorer version
    Open Command Prompt and run: reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer" /v Version
    Affected if The returned version starts with 9., 10., or 11.
  2. Confirm Windows OS version
    Open Command Prompt and run: winver or systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"
    Affected if The OS is Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows Server 2008/R2.
  3. Check if Internet Explorer is enabled
    Open Control Panel > Programs > Turn Windows features on or off, or check: reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings" /v Version
    Affected if Internet Explorer is present and enabled on the system.
  4. Verify Internet Messaging API component
    Check for presence of ieproxy.dll or related messaging API components in the IE installation directory: dir "%ProgramFiles%\Internet Explorer" /b
    Affected if Internet Explorer files are present in the default installation directory.

A system is affected if it runs Internet Explorer version 9, 10, or 11 on Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows Server 2008/R2 with IE 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
Patch available Apply the vendor patch
Vendor patch docs.microsoft.com →
Interim mitigation

Apply the relevant Microsoft security updates to affected Windows systems, or migrate from Internet Explorer to Microsoft Edge. Disable IE where possible and enforce Enhanced Security Configuration.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to Windows 10 or Windows Server 2016/2019 (or later). Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 are end-of-life and no longer receive security updates.

  1. 1. Identify all systems running Internet Explorer 9, 10, or 11 on Windows Vista SP2, Windows 7 SP1, Windows Server 2008 SP2, or Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1
  2. 2. Check if systems are joined to a domain and have access to Windows Update or WSUS (Windows Server Update Services)
  3. 3. Apply the MS16-104 security update (KB3185319) from Windows Update or Microsoft Update Catalog
  4. 4. Alternatively, migrate to a supported Windows version (Windows 10 or Windows Server 2016+) which includes updated Internet Explorer/Edge with the vulnerability fixed
  5. 5. Verify the update was applied by checking installed updates or using the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer
Caveat The affected operating systems (Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008/R2) are end-of-life; upgrading may require application compatibility testing and potential hardware upgrades. Some legacy applications may not function on newer Windows versions.

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

Fix this in Internet Explorer Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
Get it fixed fast

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-3298 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

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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-2016-3298 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