Background exploitation KEV catalog
CVE-2017-8540

Microsoft Malware Protection Engine Improper Restriction of Operations Vulnerability

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,…

CheckOps priority index
7.1/10 Patch within 7 days
Severity7.8
Probability7.2
Exploitation3/5

Severity = CVSS. Probability = EPSS (FIRST). Exploitation = public signals: KEV, EUVD, ransomware, EPSS above 10 %, no account required.

EPSS · today 71.9% higher than 99.4% of CVEs
CVSS 3.1 7.8 AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:
Exploited for 1,706 days 03 Mar 2022
CISA due date 24 Mar 2022 for US federal agencies

Exploitation probability EPSS · FIRST

05010026 Sep05 Oct15 Oct24 Oct02 Nov
EPSS probability (%)Percentile among all CVEs

Exploitation signals 3 / 5

  • KEV catalog (CISA)03 Mar 2022
  • Exploited in EUVD (ENISA)03 Mar 2022
  • Used by ransomwareno
  • EPSS above 10 %71.9%
  • No account, over the networkno

What to do

Fix

Apply the vendor’s fix as soon as it is available.

CISA guidance: Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Meanwhile

Take the service off the internet or restrict access to it, watch the logs and look for signs of compromise.

Manufacturers (CRA)

Exploited vulnerability in your product: early warning to ENISA within 24 h, then notification within 72 h (Article 14 of the Cyber Resilience Act). The CRA explained

Description ENISA EUVD

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.

Affected products

Malware Protection Engine
Affected versions
  • 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.
Weaknesses (CWE)

Open source packages OSV

Affected libraries according to OSV, with fixed versions.

Timeline

  1. Published

  2. Exploitation reported (ENISA)

  3. Added to the KEV catalog

  4. CISA remediation due date

  5. EPSS peak: 71.9%

References

Other exploited vulnerabilities from the same vendor

  • CVE-2026-96951Microsoft Windows Command Injection Vulnerability
    5.6 · Actively exploited
  • CVE-2026-65660Microsoft SharePoint Code Injection Vulnerability
    5.0 · Actively exploited
  • CVE-2026-85880Microsoft Windows Heap-Based Buffer Overflow Vulnerability
    4.3 · Actively exploited
  • CVE-2026-81963Microsoft Windows Link Following Vulnerability
    4.3 · Actively exploited
  • CVE-2019-1068Microsoft SQL Server Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
    7.0 · Actively exploited
  • CVE-2026-69836Microsoft Entra
    5.3 · Actively exploited

Are you affected?

CheckOps reads your SBOMs and scans, and alerts you as soon as one of your dependencies is exploited.

Get notified at launch

Sources: CISA KEV · ENISA EUVD · FIRST EPSS · OSV. Public data aggregated by CheckOps, updated automatically. Source texts remain the property of their authors. All exploited vulnerabilities