CVE-2017-8538

HIGHNVD 7.87.8—
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

Score 7.8 from GitHub Security Advisory (severity: HIGH) published 2022-05-17. NVD baseline CVSS 7.8; sources differ by 0.0.

Triggered by: GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
Sources: epss, ghsa, nvd
Weaponized
7.8
EchelonGraph verdictPatch this weekExploitation is likely or a public exploit exists.
  • High exploitation likelihood — EPSS 50%
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS: 50%CVSS: 7.8Exploit: NoneExposed: 0

No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.

The Microsoft Malware Protection Engine running on Microsoft Forefront and Microsoft Defender on Microsoft Windows Server 2008 SP2 and R2 SP1, Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 Gold and R2, Windows RT 8.1, Windows 10 Gold, 1511, 1607, and 1703, and Windows Server 2016, Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 and 2016, does not properly scan a specially crafted file leading to memory corruption. aka "Microsoft Malware Protection Engine Remote Code Execution Vulnerability", a different vulnerability than CVE-2017-8540 and CVE-2017-8541.

CVSS v3
7.8
EG Score
7.8(medium)
EPSS
98.8%
KEV
Not listed

Published

May 26, 2017

Last Modified

May 13, 2026

References (8)

All Vendor Advisories

(1)

Every vendor that published an advisory referencing this CVE — pulled from our cve_vendor_advisories aggregation. Click any row for the vendor's original advisory page.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 7× in last 7d / 32× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

  1. 2026-07-06 16:24 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-07-06 16:24 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-07-06 02:20 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-07-06 02:20 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-07-05 02:27 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-07-02 16:54 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-07-01 15:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-06-28 04:53 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-06-28 04:53 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-06-27 03:06 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-06-25 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-06-24 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-06-24 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-06-23 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-06-23 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-06-22 14:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-06-22 14:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-06-21 01:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  19. 2026-06-21 01:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-06-18 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-06-17 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-06-16 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-06-15 17:45 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-06-14 23:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-06-14 23:14 UTCEPSS rescore
Show 44 more
  1. 2026-06-13 22:58 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-06-13 22:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-06-12 23:09 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-06-12 23:09 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-06-11 13:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-06-10 22:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-06-10 13:19 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-06-06 13:45 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-06-06 13:45 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-06-05 22:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-06-05 22:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-06-05 06:08 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-06-05 06:08 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-06-02 20:11 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-06-02 20:11 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-06-01 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-06-01 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-05-29 13:41 UTCEPSS rescore
  19. 2026-05-26 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-05-26 07:17 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-05-26 07:17 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-05-22 21:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-05-22 21:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-05-22 21:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-05-22 21:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  26. 2026-05-22 21:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  27. 2026-05-22 21:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  28. 2026-05-22 21:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  29. 2026-05-22 13:01 UTCEG score recompute
  30. 2026-05-22 13:01 UTCVendor advisory
  31. 2026-05-22 13:01 UTCGHSA enrichment
  32. 2026-05-22 07:36 UTCOSV refresh
  33. 2026-05-20 22:37 UTCEPSS rescore
  34. 2026-05-20 22:37 UTCEPSS rescore
  35. 2026-05-20 22:37 UTCEPSS rescore
  36. 2026-05-20 22:37 UTCEPSS rescore
  37. 2026-05-20 22:37 UTCEPSS rescore
  38. 2026-05-20 22:37 UTCEPSS rescore
  39. 2026-05-20 22:37 UTCEPSS rescore
  40. 2026-05-20 22:37 UTCEPSS rescore
  41. 2026-05-20 22:37 UTCEPSS rescore
  42. 2026-05-18 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore
  43. 2026-05-18 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore
  44. 2026-05-18 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore

Publicly available exploits

(1 reference)

Working exploit code is in the public domain (1 Exploit-DB entry). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.

  • Exploit-DBEDB-42081✓ verified
    First seen May 29, 2017

    Microsoft MsMpEng - Multiple Crashes While Scanning Malformed Files

    Open source ↗

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2017-8538?
CVE-2017-8538 is a high vulnerability published on May 26, 2017. The Microsoft Malware Protection Engine running on Microsoft Forefront and Microsoft Defender on Microsoft Windows Server 2008 SP2 and R2 SP1, Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 Gold and R2, Windows RT 8.1, Windows 10 Gold, 1511, 1607, and 1703, and Windows Server 2016, Microsoft…
When was CVE-2017-8538 disclosed?
CVE-2017-8538 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on May 26, 2017, with the most recent update on May 13, 2026. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2017-8538 actively exploited?
CVE-2017-8538 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 98.8% percentile likelihood of exploitation in the next 30 days — higher percentiles indicate greater predicted risk.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2017-8538?
CVE-2017-8538 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7.8 (NVD).
How do I remediate CVE-2017-8538?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2017-8538, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

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