Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This flaw could let an attacker undermine Malwarebytes Anti-Malware’s exclusion controls on affected consumer installations. If abused, blocked malware or blocked web domains could be allowed through, reducing the value of the endpoint protection product itself.
Executive priority
Prioritize if legacy Malwarebytes consumer software exists in the environment. The business risk is reduced endpoint protection effectiveness, not direct remote compromise based on the provided sources.
Technical view
CVE-2016-10717 affects Malwarebytes Anti-Malware consumer version 2.2.1 and earlier. The issue is described as an encryption and permission weakness around exclusions.dat in ProgramData, allowing control of whitelist entries. Malware Protect blacklists and Web Protect HTTP blocking could be bypassed.
Likely exposure
Exposure appears limited to legacy Malwarebytes Anti-Malware consumer versions 2.2.1 and earlier. The source states the issue was fixed in version 3.0.4. Current exposure depends on whether obsolete consumer installs remain on endpoints.
Exploitation context
The bundle includes public proof-of-concept references, but does not cite confirmed in-the-wild exploitation. CISA KEV status is false. Treat this as a documented bypass risk, not as evidence of active exploitation.
Researcher notes
The record lacks CVSS, CWE, and detailed prerequisite data. The key research focus is validating legacy product presence and whether exclusions.dat permissions or encryption weaknesses remain exploitable on observed systems.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade affected Malwarebytes Anti-Malware consumer installations to 3.0.4 or later.
- Remove unsupported Malwarebytes 2.x installations from managed endpoints.
- Check Malwarebytes vendor guidance for any additional hardening recommendations.
- Review endpoint protection exclusions for unauthorized or suspicious entries.
Validation and detection
- Inventory endpoints for Malwarebytes Anti-Malware consumer version 2.2.1 or earlier.
- Confirm installed Malwarebytes versions are 3.0.4 or later.
- Review ProgramData exclusion configuration for unexpected whitelist entries.
- Check security logs for blocked items later allowed by exclusions.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
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
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CVE-2016-10717 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Unknown
- CVSS
- Not scored
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
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.
CVSS and timeline data
No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LF5ic5nOoUYCVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/mspaling/mbam-exclusions-poc-/blob/master/mbam-whitelist-poc.txtCVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/mspaling/mbam-exclusions-poc-CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://forums.malwarebytes.com/topic/158251-malwarebytes-hall-of-fame/CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.