# CVE-2012-0008: Path traversal in n/a

> Local attackers can gain privileges by placing a malicious add-in in a directory searched by Visual Studio, requiring user interaction to load it.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.9 (`AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 13 Mar 2012
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-q9c6-m9p3-3gc7

## What is CVE-2012-0008?

CVE-2012-0008 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Microsoft Visual Studio, published on 13 Mar 2012. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

Untrusted search path vulnerability in Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 SP1, 2010, and 2010 SP1 allows local users to gain privileges via a Trojan horse add-in in an unspecified directory, aka "Visual Studio Add-In Vulnerability."

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2012-0008?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Microsoft Visual Studio.

## How do I fix CVE-2012-0008?

No fix has been published for CVE-2012-0008 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2012-0008 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2012-0008 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Microsoft Visual Studio

- [CVE-2025-49739](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-49739/): Visual Studio Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2022-35777](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-35777/): Visual Studio Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2022-35825](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-35825/): Visual Studio Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2022-35826](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-35826/): Visual Studio Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2022-35827](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-35827/): Visual Studio Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (high 8.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2012-0008 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2012-0008 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Microsoft Visual Studio, published on 13 Mar 2012. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2012-0008 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Microsoft Visual Studio. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-0008/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-0008/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2012-0008
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-0008
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2012-0008

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-0008/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.