CVE-2009-1537

Exp

Unspecified vulnerability in the QuickTime Movie Parser Filter in quartz.dll in DirectShow in Microsoft DirectX 7.0 through 9.0c on Windows 2000 SP4, Windows XP SP2 and SP3, and Windows Server 2003 SP2 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted QuickTime media file, as exploited in the wild in May 2009, aka "DirectX NULL Byte Overwrite Vulnerability."

Published: 2009-05-29 Last update: 2026-05-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2009-1537 is rated Critical Active Threat (92/100): CVSS High severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 53.02%, 98th percentile). CISA KEV confirms active exploitation (added 2026-05-20) affecting Microsoft / DirectX. a weakness (CWE-158) Unauthenticated remote administrative access may be possible. The CISA remediation deadline has passed—treat as an emergency patch priority.

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

CISA KEV Record for CVE-2009-1537

Name: Microsoft DirectX NULL Byte Overwrite Vulnerability · CISA KEV detail

Exploit added: 2026-05-20

Action due: 2026-06-03

Required action: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2009-1537

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 2026-05-25 55.49% 53.02% -2.47%
2 2026-05-22 74.07% 55.49% -18.58%
3 2026-05-21 — 74.07% —

Full EPSS history (33 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2009-1537

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
8.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 2.8 5.9 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
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-2009-1537

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2009-1537

GHSA-qvw7-mg6g-qm9m · Severity: high — Unspecified vulnerability in the QuickTime Movie Parser Filter in quartz.dll in DirectShow in...

NVD evaluator notes for CVE-2009-1537

Impact: Per: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/971778.mspx "Microsoft is aware of limited, active attacks that use this exploit code. While our investigation is ongoing, our investigation so far has shown that Windows 2000 Service Pack 4, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 are vulnerable; all versions of Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 are not vulnerable."

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2009-1537

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
microsoft directx 7.0 cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:directx:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft directx 7.0a cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:directx:7.0a:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft directx 7.1 cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:directx:7.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft directx 8.1 cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:directx:8.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft directx 8.1b cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:directx:8.1b:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft directx 9.0 cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:directx:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft directx 9.0a cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:directx:9.0a:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft directx 9.0b cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:directx:9.0b:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft directx 9.0c cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:directx:9.0c:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_2000 — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_2000:*:sp4:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_2003_server — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_2003_server:*:sp2:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_2003_server — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_2003_server:*:sp2:itanium:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_2003_server — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_2003_server:*:sp2:x64:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_server_2003 — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_2003:*:sp2:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_xp — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_xp:*:sp2:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_xp — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_xp:*:sp3:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_xp — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_xp:-:sp2:*:*:professional:*:x64:*

References for CVE-2009-1537

URL Tags
http://blogs.technet.com/msrc/archive/2009/05/28/microsoft-security-advisory-971778-vulnerability-in-microsoft-directshow-released.aspx Vendor Advisory
http://blogs.technet.com/srd/archive/2009/05/28/new-vulnerability-in-quicktime-parsing.aspx Vendor Advisory
http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=6481 Not Applicable
http://osvdb.org/54797 Broken Link
http://secunia.com/advisories/35268 Vendor Advisory
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/971778.mspx Patch Vendor Advisory
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/35139 Broken Link
http://www.securitytracker.com/id?1022299 Broken Link
http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA09-195A.html US Government Resource
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/1445 Vendor Advisory
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/1886 Vendor Advisory
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2009/ms09-028 Vendor Advisory
https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A6237 Broken Link
https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2009-1537 US Government Resource
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