CVE DATABASE / CVE-2017-8540

CVE-2017-8540

Microsoft Malware Protection Engine Improper Restriction of Operations Vulnerability

CVSS 7.8 · HIGH ⚠ CISA KEV — ACTIVELY EXPLOITED

On the CISA KEV catalog

Confirmed exploited in the wild. Added 2022-03-03. Federal remediation due 2022-03-24.
Required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Summary

The Microsoft Malware Protection Engine running on Microsoft Forefront and Microsoft Defender on Microsoft Windows Server 2008 SP2 and R2 SP1, Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 Gold and R2, Windows RT 8.1, Windows 10 Gold, 1511, 1607, and 1703, and Windows Server 2016, Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 and 2016, does not properly scan a specially crafted file leading to memory corruption. aka "Microsoft Malware Protection Engine Remote Code Execution Vulnerability", a different vulnerability than CVE-2017-8538 and CVE-2017-8541.

CVSS 3.1 breakdown

Base score	7.8 (HIGH)
Vector	CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack vector	LOCAL
Attack complexity	LOW
Privileges required	NONE
User interaction	REQUIRED
Scope	UNCHANGED
Confidentiality	HIGH
Integrity	HIGH
Availability	HIGH

Weakness type (CWE)

CWE-787

Affected products

Microsoft malware protection engineMicrosoft windows 10 1507Microsoft windows 10 1511Microsoft windows 10 1607Microsoft windows 10 1703Microsoft windows 7Microsoft windows 8.1Microsoft windows rt 8.1Microsoft windows server 2008Microsoft windows server 2012Microsoft windows server 2016Microsoft endpoint protectionMicrosoft exchange serverMicrosoft forefront endpoint protectionMicrosoft forefront securityMicrosoft intune endpoint protectionMicrosoft security essentialsMicrosoft system center endpoint protectionMicrosoft windows defender

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References

Data: NIST NVD + CISA KEV. NVD last modified 2026-04-22. Always verify against the vendor advisory before acting.