CVE-2008-4261

Stack-based buffer overflow in Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.01 SP4, 6 SP1 on Windows 2000, and 6 on Windows XP and Server 2003 does not properly handle extraneous data associated with an object embedded in a web page, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via crafted HTML tags that trigger memory corruption, aka "HTML Rendering Memory Corruption Vulnerability."

Published: 2008-12-10 Last update: 2026-04-23 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2008-4261 is rated High Risk (76.6/100): CVSS Critical severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 64.44%, 98th percentile). Core evidence: EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. EPSS rose +8.27% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. Mandatory action: High exploitation likelihood—assess exposure and prioritize remediation.

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

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2008-4261

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 2025-12-28 56.17% 64.44% +8.27%
2 2025-12-27 64.44% 56.17% -8.27%
3 2025-10-28 64.44%

Full EPSS history (29 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2008-4261

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.3 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:C)
Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C)
Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
8.6 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2008-4261

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2008-4261

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
microsoft internet_explorer 5.01 cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:internet_explorer:5.01:sp4:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft internet_explorer 6 cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:internet_explorer:6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft internet_explorer 6 cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:internet_explorer:6:sp1:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft internet_explorer 7 cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:internet_explorer:7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2008-4261

cvelogic Threat Intelligence