CVE-2017-8540: Microsoft Malware Protection Engine Improper Restriction of Operations Vulnerability

High severity, CVSS 7.8. Actively exploited: in CISA KEV since 2022-03-03. EPSS: 71.9% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

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-2017-8538 and CVE-2017-8541.

Affected products

• Microsoft Endpoint Protection: affected versions not specified
• Microsoft Exchange Server: version 2013 only; version 2016 only
• Microsoft Forefront Endpoint Protection: affected versions not specified; version 2010 only
• Microsoft Forefront Security: affected versions not specified
• Microsoft Intune Endpoint Protection: affected versions not specified
• Microsoft Malware Protection Engine: from 1.1.13701.0, before 1.1.13704.0 (fixed in 1.1.13704.0)
• Microsoft Security Essentials: affected versions not specified
• Microsoft System Center Endpoint Protection: affected versions not specified
• Microsoft Windows Defender: affected versions not specified

Published 2017-05-26. Last modified 2026-06-17.