CVE Alert: CVE-2010-3962 – n/a – n/a

Risk verdict

High risk with urgent attention required; exploitation is active according to the SSVC data and the impact is total with network access and no user interaction.

Why this matters

Remote code execution in Internet Explorer 6–8 can yield immediate host compromise, data exposure, and potential footholds for lateral movement. In organisations still running legacy IE or unmanaged endpoints, an attacker could rapidly gain control across desktops and servers that process web content or internal apps, elevating risk to confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Most likely attack path

Attacker targets vulnerable IE versions via network delivery with no user interaction required. The vulnerability allows arbitrary code execution in the browser process, with high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact and no privileges required. Once one host is compromised, further exploitation or pivoting to adjacent systems may follow, depending on network segmentation and endpoint hardening.

Who is most exposed

Entities with legacy Windows environments or internal apps requiring IE6–IE8 are most at risk, including government, finance, or organisations with slow patch cycles or lab/test deployments still using older browsers.

Detection ideas

• Sudden IE process crashes or memory-diagnostic dumps consistent with use-after-free patterns.
• Network/Proxy logs showing access to known exploit campaigns or anomalous, high-risk web content loading in IE.
• Security alerts or SIEM correlations referencing MS10-090 CERT advisories or exploit-DB patterns.
• Unusual memory or CPU spikes on client endpoints during web browsing sessions.

Mitigation and prioritisation

• Patch asap: deploy the MS10-090 update to all IE6–IE8 endpoints; prioritise legacy desktops and any systems lacking modern browsers.
• Reduce exposure: retire or isolate legacy IE versions, enforce sandboxing and WDAC/AppLocker where feasible, restrict web access to trusted sites.
• Strengthen controls: enable DEP/ASLR, consider browser isolation or EMET/Exploit Guard equivalents, and tighten network segmentation to limit lateral movement.
• Change-management: verify compatibility, test in pilot groups, and implement a policy to phase out IE6–IE8 where possible.