CVE-2003-1041

Exp

Internet Explorer 5.x and 6.0 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary programs via a modified directory traversal attack using a URL containing ".." (dot dot) sequences and a filename that ends in "::" which is treated as a .chm file even if it does not have a .chm extension. NOTE: this bug may overlap CVE-2004-0475.

Published: 2004-06-14 Last update: 2026-04-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2003-1041 is rated High Exploit Risk (74.5/100): CVSS High severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 65.43%, 98th percentile). Core evidence: 3 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Mandatory action: Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2003-1041

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
23504 exploit_db edb 2003-12-30 Exploit-DB ↗
nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗
nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2003-1041

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-01-23 70.95% 65.43% -5.51%
2 2025-03-30 67.86% 70.95% +3.09%
3 2025-03-29 67.86%

Full EPSS history (12 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2003-1041

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.5 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
10.0 6.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2003-1041

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2003-1041

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
microsoft ie 6 cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:ie:6:windows_server_2003_sp1:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft ie 6.0 cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:ie:6.0:sp1:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft internet_explorer 5 cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:internet_explorer:5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft internet_explorer 5.5 cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:internet_explorer:5.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft internet_explorer 5.5 cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:internet_explorer:5.5:sp1:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft internet_explorer 5.5 cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:internet_explorer:5.5:sp2:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft internet_explorer 6.0 cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:internet_explorer:6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2003-1041

URL Tags
http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/187196 US Government Resource
http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/348521 Exploit Vendor Advisory
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/9320 Exploit Vendor Advisory
http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA04-196A.html Third Party Advisory US Government Resource
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2004/ms04-023
https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/14105
https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A1186
https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A1943
https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A3514
https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A956
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