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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 7 Oct 2024.
Windows 10 1507Operating system · Microsoft

CVE-2024-43461

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-09-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.0.10240.20766 / 10.0.14393.7336 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild High EPSS 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
Windows MSHTML Platform Spoofing 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 · moderate confidence

This is a spoofing vulnerability in the Windows MSHTML Platform, the rendering engine used by Internet Explorer and embedded in other Windows applications. The vulnerability allows an attacker to disguise or impersonate legitimate content or interfaces, potentially tricking users into believing they are interacting with trusted content.

MitigationApply the relevant Windows security update from Microsoft's patch cycle to address this vulnerability.

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
Windows 10 1507Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.10240.20766
Windows 10 1607Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.14393.7336
Windows 10 1809Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.17763.6293
Windows 10 21h2Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.19044.4894
Windows 10 22h2Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.19045.4894
Windows 11 21h2Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.22000.3197
Windows 11 22h2Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.22621.4169
Windows 11 23h2Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.22621.4169< 10.0.22631.4169

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
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/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 Windows version
    Run 'winver' from the Start menu or execute 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"' in Command Prompt. Alternatively, run 'winver' or check Settings > System > About.
    Affected if The reported version matches one of the affected builds: Windows 10 1507 (before 10.0.10240.20766), Windows 10 1607 (before 10.0.14393.7336), Windows 10 1809 (before 10.0.17763.6293), Windows 10 21h2 (before 10.0.19044.4894), Windows 10 22h2 (before 10.0.19045.4894), Windows 11 21h2 (before 10.0.220
  2. Confirm MSHTML Platform component presence
    Check if mshtml.dll exists in the system by running 'dir C:\Windows\System32\mshtml.dll' in Command Prompt.
    Affected if The file mshtml.dll exists at C:\Windows\System32\ (this confirms the MSHTML/Trident engine is installed on the system).
  3. Verify if Internet Explorer mode is enabled
    For organizations using Microsoft Edge, check Group Policy settings under Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Microsoft Edge, or check Edge settings at edge://settings/defaultBrowser (look for 'Allow sites to reload in Internet Explorer mode' or similar IE mode toggles).
    Affected if Internet Explorer mode in Microsoft Edge is enabled, or legacy Internet Explorer remains accessible and in use.
  4. Check for applications embedding MSHTML
    Review installed applications for those that embed the WebBrowser Control (shdocvw.dll/mshtml), or check registry keys under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\ and HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\ for evidence of custom browser embedding. Inspect running processes for instances of iexplore.exe or applications using mshtml.dll.
    Affected if Applications that embed the MSHTML/Trident rendering engine (WebBrowser Control) are installed and actively used.

A user is affected if their Windows version falls within the affected version ranges AND the MSHTML Platform (mshtml.dll) is present and accessible through Internet Explorer mode, legacy Internet Explorer, or third-party applications that embed the Trident rendering engine.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 10.0.10240.20766 / 10.0.14393.7336 / 10.0.17763.6293 or later
Fixed in 10.0.10240.2076610.0.14393.733610.0.17763.6293
Vendor patch msrc.microsoft.com →
Interim mitigation

Apply the relevant Windows security update from Microsoft's patch cycle to address this vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

Install Windows Security Update for CVE-2024-43461 (specific KB for your Windows version from msrc.microsoft.com) - target builds: Windows 10 1507: 10.0.10240.20766, Windows 10 1607: 10.0.14393.7336, Windows 10 1809: 10.0.17763.6293, Windows 10 21h2: 10.0.19044.4894, Windows 10 22h2: 10.0.19045.4894

  1. 1. Identify the current Windows version by opening Settings > System > About, or running 'winver' in the Run dialog
  2. 2. Determine which version band applies (e.g., Windows 10 22h2, Windows 11 23h2, etc.)
  3. 3. Apply the appropriate Windows Security Update for CVE-2024-43461 from Microsoft Update Catalog or Windows Update
  4. 4. For Windows 10 1507/1607/1809 (out of mainstream support), ensure Extended Security Updates (ESU) are enrolled if applicable
  5. 5. After update installation, restart the system when prompted
  6. 6. Verify the installed version matches or exceeds the fixed build number for your Windows version
Caveat Standard Windows update process with no expected breaking changes; ensure backup of critical data before applying updates

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

Fix this in Windows 10 1507 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-2024-43461 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2024-43461 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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