MSCOMCTL.OCX ListView/TreeView ActiveX Remote Code Execution
CVE-2012-0158 is a remote code execution vulnerability in the MSCOMCTL.OCX Microsoft Windows Common Controls ActiveX library, specifically affecting the ListView, ListView2, TreeView, and TreeView2 controls. The flaw affects Microsoft Office 2003 SP3, 2007 SP2/SP3, and 2010 Gold/SP1, as well as other Microsoft products that ship or use the vulnerable control, including Office 2003 Web Components SP3, multiple SQL Server versions, BizTalk Server 2002 SP1, Commerce Server versions, Visual FoxPro 8.0 SP1/9.0 SP2, and the Visual Basic 6.0 runtime. Microsoft described exploitation as causing "system state" corruption, and multiple sources characterize the issue as a buffer overflow/memory corruption condition in the ListView/TreeView ActiveX controls. An attacker can trigger the flaw by convincing a victim to open a crafted Office document or RTF file, or by serving malicious content via a crafted website that instantiates the vulnerable control. Successful exploitation allows arbitrary code execution in the context of the user opening the malicious content. The vulnerability was widely exploited in the wild beginning in 2012 and became one of the most commonly used Office exploit primitives in targeted intrusion and crimeware campaigns.
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Impact, mitigation & remediation
What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.
Impact
What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.
Mitigation
If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.
Remediation
Patch, then assume compromise.
Exploits
No public exploits tracked yet. Mallory keeps watching.
No public exploit code observed for this vulnerability.
Affected products & vendors
Products and vendors Mallory has correlated with this vulnerability. Open in Mallory to drill down to specific CPE configurations and version ranges.
Vendor-confirmed product mapping. Mallory continuously reconciles this list against your asset inventory.
Recent activity
40 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.
A Microsoft Office ActiveX control vulnerability used as a long-running initial access vector in spear-phishing to execute code and deploy Lotus Blossom implants (Emissary explicitly referenced).
A Windows Common Controls remote code execution vulnerability listed among top exploited CVEs.
A well-known vulnerability used in document-based exploit lures in espionage campaigns targeting Tibetan groups.
A remote code execution vulnerability in Microsoft Office that can be exploited via crafted Office documents, typically delivered through phishing emails.
The version that knows your environment.
Query your assets running an affected version, and investigate the blast radius.
Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.
Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.
YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.
Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.
Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.