CVE-2010-0249: Microsoft Internet Explorer Use-After-Free Vulnerability
- Is it exploited?
Yes. CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 20 May 2026, 5,969 days after the CVE record was published.
- How likely is exploitation in the next 30 days?
- 91.9%
EPSS score, percentile 99.8 of all scored records
- How severe?
- 8.8 High
CVSS v3.1 base score, from CISA's enrichment of the record
- What should I do?
CISA deadline 3 Jun 2026. Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
- Which versions are affected?
Not stated. The CVE record gives vendor and product as “n/a” and the version as “unspecified”.
Source: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, 2026.10.28, as of 28 Oct 2026; FIRST Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), v2026.06.15, as of 28 Oct 2026; CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of 28 Oct 2026. About the data.
What to do
Required action, set by CISA
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
CISA due date for this action: 3 June 2026.
Advisories and patches
Linked from CISA's catalog entry
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/SecurityAdvisories/2010/979352
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2010-0249
Affected products and versions
The CVE record does not name affected products or versions: vendor and product are “n/a” and the version is “unspecified”.
Source: CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of 28 Oct 2026. About the data.
About this vulnerability
Microsoft Internet Explorer contains an use-after-free vulnerability that could allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code by accessing a pointer associated with a deleted object. The impacted product could be end-of-life (EoL) and/or end-of-service (EoS). Users should discontinue product utilization.
Summary: CISA's KEV catalog, as of 28 Oct 2026.
- CISA added CVE-2010-0249 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on 20 May 2026.
- CISA's ransomware flag for this entry is "Unknown": no evidence of ransomware use in the catalog, which is not proof of none.
- The due date CISA sets for the required action is 3 Jun 2026.
- The CVE record was published on 15 Jan 2010, 5,969 days before it was added to KEV.
- The CVE record carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.8 (High), taken from CISA's enrichment of the record.
- FIRST's EPSS model puts the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days at 91.9% (percentile 99.8), as of 28 Oct 2026.
- CISA's SSVC assessment in the CVE record: exploitation active, automatable no, technical impact total.
Source: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, 2026.10.28, as of 28 Oct 2026; CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of 28 Oct 2026; FIRST Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), v2026.06.15, as of 28 Oct 2026. About the data.
Description
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."
Source: CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of 28 Oct 2026. About the data.
Weakness
- CWE-416: Use After Free
CWE and CAPEC are maintained by MITRE; the entries are those named in the CVE record and the KEV entry.
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 15 Jan 2010 | CVE record published |
| 20 May 2026 | Added to CISA KEV |
| 21 May 2026 | CVE record last updated |
| 3 Jun 2026 | CISA due date for the required action |
References
- VU#492515
- TA10-055A
- 11167
- oval:org.mitre.oval:def:6835
- 61697
- 37815
- ie-freed-object-code-execution(55642)
- 1023462
- ADV-2010-0135
- microsoft.com
2 more in the CVE record.
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