How severe is CVE-2016-0189?

CVE-2016-0189 has a CVSS score of 7.5/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2016-0189?

Affected package information for CVE-2016-0189 is not yet fully mapped. Check the official advisory links for details.

How do I fix CVE-2016-0189?

No fixed version has been published for CVE-2016-0189 yet. Monitor the advisory for updates, apply mitigations recommended by the vendor, and use O3 Security to track when a fix becomes available in your stack.

Is CVE-2016-0189 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 10 known exploit references for CVE-2016-0189, including 1 documented proof-of-concept exploit on Exploit-DB and 7 in-the-wild exploitations observed on GitHub and other sources. Treat this as actively exploitable and prioritize patching immediately. All exploit code should only be run in an isolated sandbox environment for research or authorized testing — never against production systems without explicit written authorization.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2016-0189?

CVE-2016-0189 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 90.8%, placing it in the 100th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. A score above 50% indicates significantly elevated exploitation risk — immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Is CVE-2016-0189 in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog?

Yes. CVE-2016-0189 (Microsoft Internet Explorer Memory Corruption Vulnerability) was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on 2022-03-28. CISA required all US federal civilian agencies to remediate this vulnerability by 2022-04-18. The required action was: Apply updates per vendor instructions. Being listed in the KEV catalog is the strongest possible confirmation of active exploitation — treat this as a critical priority.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2016-0189?

CVE-2016-0189 is classified as Out-of-bounds Write (CWE-787). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

Which products and versions are affected by CVE-2016-0189?

CVE-2016-0189 affects microsoft internet explorer (3 versions, e.g. 9, 10, 11); microsoft jscript (1 version, e.g. 5.8); microsoft vbscript (2 versions, e.g. 5.7, 5.8). Check the affected-products list on this page against your deployed version to confirm exposure.

When was CVE-2016-0189 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2016-0189 was published on May 11, 2016 and was last updated on April 22, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

CISA KEV·Added 2022-03-28 — agencies required to remediate by 2022-04-18

CVE-2016-0189

HIGH

The Microsoft (1) JScript 5.8 and (2) VBScript 5.7 and 5.8 engines, as used in Internet Explorer 9 through 11 and other products, allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or…

Published

May 11, 2016

Updated

Apr 22, 2026

Affected

0 pkgs

Patched

None yet

Exploits

10 known

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

90.8%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Very High Risk100th percentile0.00%

EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.

Description

The Microsoft (1) JScript 5.8 and (2) VBScript 5.7 and 5.8 engines, as used in Internet Explorer 9 through 11 and other products, allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via a crafted web site, aka "Scripting Engine Memory Corruption Vulnerability," a different vulnerability than CVE-2016-0187.

Affected Products

3 products · 7 configurations

Application

internet explorermicrosoft

3 versions

91011

Application

jscriptmicrosoft

1 version

5.8

Application

vbscriptmicrosoft

2 versions

5.75.8

Exploits & PoCs

Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.

EDB-40118localwindows

Microsoft Internet Explorer 11 (Windows 10) - VBScript Memory Corruption (MS16-051)

by Brian Pak · Jun 22, 2016

Exploit-DB Source

Frequently Asked Questions

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2016-0189 in your stack?

O3 detects CVE-2016-0189 across dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.

Scan my stack How O3 SCA works

CVSS Score

7.5/10

CVSS v3 base score

Vector breakdown

AV:Attack Vector

Network

AC:Attack Complexity

High

PR:Privileges Required

None

UI:User Interaction

Required

S:Scope

Unchanged

C:Confidentiality

High

I:Integrity

High

A:Availability

High

Raw vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CWE Classification

CWE-787Out-of-bounds Write

Weaponization

No known public exploit tooling found.

Timeline

Disclosed

May 11, 2016

First exploit

Jun 22, 2016

KEV added

Mar 28, 2022

Last updated

Apr 22, 2026

Identifiers

CVE-2016-0189

References

Advisorysecurityfocus.com Advisorysecuritytracker.com Advisoryexploit-db.com Advisorysecurityfocus.com Advisorysecuritytracker.com Advisoryexploit-db.com Fixdocs.microsoft.com Fixdocs.microsoft.com Fixdocs.microsoft.com Fixdocs.microsoft.com Exploit / PoCvirusbulletin.com Exploit / PoCvirusbulletin.com Webcisa.gov

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