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. Known ransomware use
Internet ExplorerApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2016-3351

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2016-09-14
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 Ransomware Public exploit 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 Microsoft Edge allow remote attackers to obtain sensitive information via a crafted web site, aka "Microsoft Browser 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

Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 through 11 and Microsoft Edge contain an information disclosure vulnerability where a remote attacker can obtain sensitive information by tricking a user into visiting a crafted malicious website. The vulnerability allows the attacker to access information that should be restricted.

MitigationApply the relevant Microsoft security update (MS16-104) to patch the vulnerability across affected browsers. Keep browsers updated and consider restricting access to untrusted websites until patches are applied.

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
EdgeWeb browser
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 Internet Explorer, click the gear icon > Settings > About Internet Explorer. Alternatively, check the registry key: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer at value 'Version'
    Affected if Version displayed is 9.x, 10.x, or 11.x
  2. Identify Microsoft Edge version
    Open Microsoft Edge, click the three-dot menu > Settings > About Microsoft Edge. Alternatively, run PowerShell command: Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge | Select-Object Name, Version
    Affected if Any version number is returned (all Edge versions are affected)
  3. Confirm browser is in active use
    Check if Internet Explorer or Edge are listed as default browsers or have recent process history via Task Manager
    Affected if Either browser shows recent use or is set as default

If either Internet Explorer version 9, 10, or 11 is installed, or Microsoft Edge of any version is present and actively used, the environment is affected by this information disclosure vulnerability.

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 update (MS16-104) to patch the vulnerability across affected browsers. Keep browsers updated and consider restricting access to untrusted websites until patches are applied.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Windows 10 with latest cumulative updates (Edge replaced IE on Windows 10)

  1. Enable Automatic Updates in Windows to receive Microsoft security patches automatically
  2. Run Windows Update and install all cumulative security updates for your Windows version
  3. Alternatively, manually download and install the specific security update for CVE-2016-3351 from the Microsoft Security Bulletin (MS16-104)
Caveat Internet Explorer 11 remains supported on Windows 7/8.1 only; Microsoft ended IE support for most Windows 10 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
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,680
Get it fixed fast

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,288.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-3351 — 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-2016-3351 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