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CVE Record

CVE-2011-2016: Untrusted search path vulnerability in Windows Mail and Windows Meeting Space in Microsoft Windows Vista SP...

Untrusted search path vulnerability in Windows Mail and Windows Meeting Space in Microsoft Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008 SP2, R2, and R2 SP1, and Windows 7 Gold and SP1 allows local users to gain privileges via a Trojan horse DLL in the current working directory, as demonstrated by a directory that contains a .eml or .wcinv file, aka "Windows Mail Insecure Library Loading Vulnerability."

HighCVSS 7.3Not KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysishigh

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

This is a legacy Windows privilege-escalation issue in Windows Mail and Windows Meeting Space. A signed-in local user could benefit if the application loaded a malicious DLL from the current folder when handling certain mail or meeting invitation files. The business concern is mainly unmanaged or unsupported Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 systems.

Executive priority

Treat as high priority only where legacy affected Windows systems remain in service. For fully modernized environments, urgency is lower, but the finding should trigger confirmation that obsolete Windows assets are not still operating.

Technical view

CVE-2011-2016 is an untrusted search path flaw affecting Windows Mail and Windows Meeting Space on listed Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and Windows 7 releases. The CVSS 3.1 vector is local, low complexity, low privileges, user interaction required, with high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact.

Likely exposure

Exposure is most likely on legacy Windows endpoints or servers still running the affected versions and using Windows Mail or Windows Meeting Space. Modern supported Windows versions are not identified as affected in the supplied bundle.

Exploitation context

The provided sources do not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation. The described condition involves local access and user interaction, with abuse tied to application library loading from the current working directory.

Researcher notes

The bundle identifies the flaw class and affected legacy platforms but provides no evidence of active exploitation. Validation should focus on OS version, application presence, and MS11-085 applicability rather than assuming broad present-day exposure.

Mitigation direction

  • Apply Microsoft bulletin MS11-085 updates where applicable.
  • Retire or upgrade unsupported affected Windows versions.
  • Check Microsoft guidance for any environment-specific workarounds.
  • Restrict untrusted users from writing to shared working folders.
  • Limit use of Windows Mail and Windows Meeting Space on legacy systems.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 systems.
  • Confirm whether Windows Mail or Windows Meeting Space is present or used.
  • Verify MS11-085 update status on applicable hosts.
  • Use the referenced OVAL definition in vulnerability management tooling.
  • Review legacy asset exceptions for unsupported operating systems.
Prepared
Confidence
high
Sources
4

Public sources used

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context

These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.

ATT&CK lookup starting points

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CVE-2011-2016 mapping review

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
High
CVSS
7.3 (3.1)
Known Exploited
No
Published

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Official CVE source material

CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5

These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.

1CVSS vectors
0Timeline events
0ADP providers
3Source links

CVSS vector scores

1 official score

We collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.

ScoreVersionSeverityVectorExploitImpactSource
7.3CVSS 3.1HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H1.35.9Primary CVE score

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.1 score

7.3High
CVSS 3.1 vector shape for CVE-2011-2016Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack Vector
NetworkAdjacentLocalPhysical
Attack Complexity
LowHigh
Privileges Required
NoneLowHigh
User Interaction
NoneRequired
Scope
ChangedUnchanged
Confidentiality Impact
HighLowNone
Integrity Impact
HighLowNone
Availability Impact
HighLowNone

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
n/an/an/aListed
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.