# CVE-2017-8540: Microsoft Malware Protection Engine Improper Restriction of Operations Vulnerability

> CVE-2017-8540: Microsoft Malware Protection Engine Improper Restriction of Operations Vulnerability. CVSS 7.8 (CVSS 3.1), in CISA KEV.

Canonical: https://rewindex.com/cve/CVE-2017-8540
Last updated: 2025-10-21T23:55:40Z

- Published: 2017-05-26 20:00 UTC · Updated: 2025-10-21 23:55 UTC · Assigner: microsoft
- CVSS: 7.8 (CVSS 3.1) · Severity: High · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- EPSS: 71.9%, 99th percentile (scored 2026-10-25)
- CISA KEV: yes, added 2022-03-03, federal due date 2022-03-24, ransomware use: Unknown

## Description

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.

## CISA required action

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

## Affected vendors and products

- Microsoft Corporation: Malware Protection Engine

## References

- [CVE record on cve.org](https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-8540)
- [NVD entry](https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-8540)
- [https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2017-8540](https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2017-8540)
- [https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/42088/](https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/42088/)
- [http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/98703](http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/98703)
- [http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1038571](http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1038571)

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_Sources: CVE records from the CVE Program (cve.org). CVE® is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation. (https://www.cve.org/) This product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. (https://nvd.nist.gov/) Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog from CISA. (https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog) EPSS scores from FIRST (Exploit Prediction Scoring System). (https://www.first.org/epss/)_


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Canonical: https://rewindex.com/cve/CVE-2017-8540 · Markdown: https://rewindex.com/cve/CVE-2017-8540.md · JSON: https://rewindex.com/api/v1/cves/CVE-2017-8540 · Data licensed CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) · Generated 2026-10-26T02:01:56.358Z