CVE-2008-4269

The search-ms protocol handler in Windows Explorer in Microsoft Windows Vista Gold and SP1 and Server 2008 uses untrusted parameter data obtained from incorrect parsing, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted HTML document, aka "Windows Search Parsing Vulnerability."

Published: 2008-12-10 Last update: 2026-04-23 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2008-4269 is rated Moderate Risk (64.9/100): CVSS High severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 57.77%, 98th percentile). EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. 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-2008-4269

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 2025-06-28 61.22% 57.77% -3.45%
2 2025-05-01 63.39% 61.22% -2.17%
3 2025-03-30 — 63.39% —

Full EPSS history (18 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2008-4269

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
8.5 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:M/Au:S/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:S)
A single authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:C)
Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C)
Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
 6.8 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2008-4269

NVD evaluator notes for CVE-2008-4269

Comment: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/Bulletin/MS08-075.mspx Windows Search Parsing Vulnerability - CVE-2008-4269 A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Windows Explorer that allows an attacker to construct a malicious web page that includes a call to the search-ms protocol handler. The protocol handler in turn passes untrusted data to Windows Explorer.

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2008-4269

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
microsoft windows_server_2008 — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_2008:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_server_2008 — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_2008:*:*:itanium:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_server_2008 — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_2008:*:*:x32:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_server_2008 — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_2008:*:*:x64:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_vista — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_vista:*:*:x64:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_vista — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_vista:*:gold:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_vista — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_vista:*:sp1:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2008-4269

cvelogic Threat Intelligence