CVE-2016-0185 — Media Center in Microsoft Windows Vista SP2, Windows 7 SP1, and Windows 8

Media Center in Microsoft Windows Vista SP2, Windows 7 SP1, and Windows 8.1 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted Media Center link (aka .mcl) file, aka "Windows Media Center Remote Code Execution Vulnerability."

01What is this vulnerability?

Media Center in Microsoft Windows Vista SP2, Windows 7 SP1, and Windows 8.1 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted Media Center link (aka .mcl) file, aka "Windows Media Center Remote Code Execution Vulnerability."

02Affected products

No structured affected-product list available — see references below for vendor advisories.

03Active exploitation status

Yes — actively exploited. Added to the CISA KEV catalog on —.

04Recommended remediation

• Patch to a fixed version listed in the vendor advisory (see references below).
• Mitigate with WAF rules, network egress filters, or feature flags where the patch is not yet available.
• Hunt historical logs for exploitation indicators — see Detection signatures below.

05Technical details

For the full vendor write-up, exploit chains, and reference implementations, see the references list in section 09.

06Detection signatures

Open the Sigma generator with a pre-filled prompt for this CVE to draft a starting detection in your stack of choice:

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07Related CVEs

No directly-cited follow-up CVEs in the KB record for this advisory. The references list in section 09 carries the vendor cross-references.

08Timeline

• Published: 2016-05-11 (10y 3m ago)
• Last modified: 2026-06-17

09References

No additional references available in the KB record.