Threat Intelligence / CVE / CVE-2010-0249

CVE-2010-0249 — Microsoft Internet Explorer

CISA KEVRansomware
CVSS v3.1 8.8 (HIGH) · EPSS 88.7% (higher than 99.5% of all scored CVEs) · Priority 10/10 · Published 2010-01-15

As of 2026-05-21, CVE-2010-0249 is a HIGH-severity vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Explorer, CVSS v3.1 8.8, EPSS 88.7% (99.5th percentile). It is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2026-05-20), with a US federal remediation deadline of 2026-06-03, and CISA links it to known ransomware campaigns. Threadlinqs Intelligence links 1 tracked threat campaign to CVE-2010-0249, most recently “CISA KEV Catalog Adds Seven Vulnerabilities (May 20, 2026) — Microsoft Defender CVE-2026-41091 (EoP) and CVE-2026-45498 (DoS) Headline Active Exploitation Batch”.

Last updated: 2026-05-21

What is CVE-2010-0249?

Use-after-free vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Explorer 6, 6 SP1, 7, and 8 on Windows 2000 SP4; Windows XP SP2 and SP3; Windows Server 2003 SP2; Windows Vista Gold, SP1, and SP2; Windows Server 2008 Gold, SP2, and R2; and Windows 7 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code by accessing a pointer associated with a deleted object, related to incorrectly initialized memory and improper handling of objects in memory, as exploited in the wild in December 2009 and January 2010 during Operation Aurora, aka "HTML Object Memory Corruption Vulnerability."

The record classifies CVE-2010-0249 under weakness class CWE-416. Its CVSS v3 base vector states that the flaw is reachable remotely over the network, needs no prior authentication, needs a user to take an action first, and has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability. 7 affected-product entries are recorded, across 1 vendor, listed below. The identifier was first published 6084 days ago.

Severity and exploitation probability

CVSS v3.1 base score
8.8 — HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS (FIRST)
88.7% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 99.5% of all scored CVEs
CISA KEV
Listed since 2026-05-20, federal remediation deadline 2026-06-03 — used in known ransomware campaigns
Threadlinqs priority
10/10 — CISA lists it as used in ransomware, which Threadlinqs scores at the maximum
Published
2010-01-15, last modified 2026-05-21

Is CVE-2010-0249 being exploited?

CISA added CVE-2010-0249 to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2026-05-20, which means the agency holds evidence of exploitation in the wild; US federal civilian agencies had to remediate it by 2026-06-03 under BOD 22-01. CISA flags the vulnerability as one used in known ransomware campaigns. It currently carries a trending score of 40 in the Threadlinqs vulnerability feed.

Affected products and versions

How to fix CVE-2010-0249

The record marks a vendor fix as available for CVE-2010-0249. Patch reference: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2010/ms10-002. Vendor advisory: http://blogs.technet.com/msrc/archive/2010/01/14/security-advisory-979352.aspx. Because CVE-2010-0249 is KEV-listed, US federal civilian agencies were required to apply the vendor fix, or stop using the product, by 2026-06-03. Apply the vendor fix referenced above to every affected product listed in this record, then confirm the running version against the vendor advisory.

Threat activity tracking CVE-2010-0249

1 tracked threat in the Threadlinqs corpus references CVE-2010-0249, either in the campaign’s CVE list or as an indicator on the campaign record.

Sources

Seeded from cveorg and not yet processed by the Threadlinqs enrichment pipeline, so blank CVSS, EPSS or KEV fields above mean NOT MEASURED rather than measured-absent.

Full detection coverage & IOCs for threats exploiting CVE-2010-0249 are available via the Threadlinqs MCP server (Purple tier). View plans →

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