CVE-2017-11788 Denial of service in Windows search

High 7.5 Published 15 Nov 2017 Updated 17 Sep 2024

An unauthenticated attacker can cause a denial of service in Windows Search by sending specially crafted messages, affecting multiple Windows versions.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Not needed
Attackable: Over the internet
Victim action needed: Not needed
Fix: None listed

What is CVE-2017-11788?

CVE-2017-11788 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 10, published on 15 Nov 2017. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

Official description

Windows Search in Windows 7 SP1, Windows Server 2008 SP2 and R2 SP1, Windows 8.1 and RT 8.1, Windows Server 2012 and R2, Windows 10 Gold, 1511, 1607, 1703 and 1709, Windows Server 2016 and Windows server, version 1709 allows an unauthenticated attacker to remotely send specially crafted messages that could cause a denial of service against the system due to improperly handing objects in memory, aka "Windows Search Denial of Service Vulnerability".

Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-11788?

It affects 8 products.

Products include Microsoft Windows 10, Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows 8.1, Microsoft Windows Rt 8.1, Microsoft Windows Server, Microsoft Windows Server 2008 and 2 more.

How do I fix CVE-2017-11788?

No fix has been published for CVE-2017-11788 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.

Is CVE-2017-11788 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-11788 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Microsoft Windows 10 vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as GHSA-59f6-jgp4-8r4h.