Leviathan: Geostrategy and TTP (Tactics, Techniques and Procedures)
Mentions the CVE; no further detail.
CVE-2012-0158 KEVRansomwarePublic exploit High · 8.8 EPSS >99.9%
Microsoft MSCOMCTL.OCX Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
Microsoft · MSCOMCTL.OCX
Summary
The flaw is in the ListView, ListView2, TreeView, and TreeView2 ActiveX controls within Microsoft's MSCOMCTL.OCX Common Controls component, which ships with several Microsoft products including Office, SQL Server, BizTalk Server, Commerce Server, Visual FoxPro, and the Visual Basic 6.0 Runtime. An attacker can execute arbitrary code by getting a user to open a crafted web page, Office document, or .rtf file that corrupts system state, which requires user interaction and no prior authentication.
Official description · NVD
The (1) ListView, (2) ListView2, (3) TreeView, and (4) TreeView2 ActiveX controls in MSCOMCTL.OCX in the Common Controls in Microsoft Office 2003 SP3, 2007 SP2 and SP3, and 2010 Gold and SP1; Office 2003 Web Components SP3; SQL Server 2000 SP4, 2005 SP4, and 2008 SP2, SP3, and R2; BizTalk Server 2002 SP1; Commerce Server 2002 SP4, 2007 SP2, and 2009 Gold and R2; Visual FoxPro 8.0 SP1 and 9.0 SP2; and Visual Basic 6.0 Runtime allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted (a) web site, (b) Office document, or (c) .rtf file that triggers "system state" corruption, as exploited in the wild in April 2012, aka "MSCOMCTL.OCX RCE Vulnerability."
Priority scorePatchfirst’s 0 to 100 ranking. It adds points for CISA KEV listing, ransomware use, EPSS, threat reports, public exploit code and CVSS. Every CVE page shows the breakdown. Breakdown
89.2 / 100
- Exploited
- Yes, in CISA KEV
- Reports
- 15
- Tactics
- 2/15
How an attack unfolds
Based on MITRE ATT&CKA public catalogue of the techniques attackers use, maintained by MITRE. Patchfirst uses it to describe what attackers do with a vulnerability. mappings. Select a step to see the evidence.Exploitation timelineDated milestones for a CVE: when it was disclosed, when exploit code became public, when exploitation was confirmed, and when threat reports named it.
First seen exploited 3 months before it was disclosed. Public exploit code (Metasploit) was available the same day.
- First seen exploitedVulnCheck KEV evidence3 mo before
- First dated threat reportunit42.paloaltonetworks.com+4 yrs
- Added to CISA KEVknown ransomware use; EU database agrees+10 yrs
CISA KEV listing is when exploitation was confirmed, not necessarily the first attack.
MITRE ATT&CKA public catalogue of the techniques attackers use, maintained by MITRE. Patchfirst uses it to describe what attackers do with a vulnerability. techniques
2 TechniqueOne specific attacker behaviour in MITRE ATT&CK, such as T1190 “Exploit Public-Facing Application”. IDs with a dot, like T1059.004, are sub-techniques., grouped by TacticThe attacker’s goal at a stage of an attack in MITRE ATT&CK, such as Initial Access or Persistence. Each technique belongs to one or more tactics. in kill-chain order, 5 cited passages 11Initial AccessTA0001
Drive-by Compromise T1189 Medium Confidence (technique links)How sure Patchfirst is that an ATT&CK technique applies to this CVE. High and medium links are shown by default; low ones come from early or generic mappings, text matching, or contradict the CVE’s details.
MITRE CTID mapping of the CVE · uncategorised
ExecutionTA0002
Exploitation for Client Execution T1203 Medium Confidence (technique links)How sure Patchfirst is that an ATT&CK technique applies to this CVE. High and medium links are shown by default; low ones come from early or generic mappings, text matching, or contradict the CVE’s details.
AI mapping from the description · primary impact
Client application executes attacker code; AnnoCTR expert entity-linking label (train split)
allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted
CVE-2012-0158 CVE-2017-0199 CVE-2017-8759
Lower-confidence links (6)
These come from early or generic mappings, text matching, or contradict this CVE’s details (for example a public-facing technique on a bug that needs a user to open a file). Shown for completeness.
- Command and Scripting InterpreterT1059 CTID attack_to_cve Phase 1 "Uncategorized" mapping (not staged by impact)
- Exploit Public-Facing ApplicationT1190 needs user interaction; not a public-facing exploit
- DefacementT1491 CTID attack_to_cve Phase 1 "Uncategorized" mapping (not staged by impact)
- Event Triggered ExecutionT1546 CTID attack_to_cve Phase 1 "Uncategorized" mapping (not staged by impact)
- Compromise Host Software BinaryT1554 CTID attack_to_cve Phase 1 "Uncategorized" mapping (not staged by impact)
- Data ManipulationT1565 CTID attack_to_cve Phase 1 "Uncategorized" mapping (not staged by impact)
Detection
0 rules for this CVE · 38 general rules for its techniquesRules for this CVE
0Sigma ruleAn open, vendor-neutral detection rule for log data. Security teams convert Sigma rules into searches for their own SIEM. that reference CVE-2012-0158 directly.CVE-specific rules are not available in this build. Search SigmaHQ ↗
General rules for this CVE’s techniques
These detect the technique in general, not this specific vulnerability.
Exploitation for Client ExecutionT120335 general rules
- Antivirus - Exploitation Framework Signaturecriticalstable
- Droppers Exploiting CVE-2017-11882criticalstable
- Audit CVE Eventcriticaltest
- CVE-2021-31979 CVE-2021-33771 Exploitscriticaltest
- CVE-2021-31979 CVE-2021-33771 Exploits by Sourgumcriticaltest
- Exploit for CVE-2017-8759criticaltest
- Antivirus - APT Malware Signaturecriticalexperimental
- Antivirus - Remote Access Tools Signaturecriticalexperimental
Drive-by CompromiseT11893 general rules
Sigma rules © SigmaHQ, Detection Rule License 1.1; linked, not reproduced.
What security researchers reported
Named in 15 threat reports15 reportsTrend Micro2forcepoint.com2Microsoft2+8Jan 2016 – May 2019 · 11 undated
Reports are matched by finding the exact id CVE-2012-0158 in their text; nobody has reviewed the match. One passage is shown per report, at most 320 characters, linked to the original.
The Trail of BlackTech’s Cyber Espionage Campaigns
Mentions the CVE; no further detail.
BITTER: A Targeted Attack Against Pakistan | Forcepoint BITTER: a targeted attack against Pakistan
The campaign predominantly used the older, relatively popular Microsoft Office exploit, CVE-2012-0158, in order to download and execute a RAT binary from a website.
2 passages name itOriginal (opens in a new tab) ↗
Scarlet Mimic: Years-Long Espionage Campaign Targets Minority Activists
Mentions the CVE; no further detail.
Show all 15 reportsShow fewer
It’s Parliamentary: KeyBoy and the Targeting of the Tibetan Community
The researchers describe the presumed existence of an exploit document ‘builder’ designed to selectively weaponize .rtf files using four older, patched, vulnerabilities: CVE-2012-0158, CVE-2012-1856, CVE-2015-1641, and CVE-2015-1770.
5 passages name itOriginal (opens in a new tab) ↗
Eset gelsemium
…spearphishing with attachments exploiting a then-old vulnerability in Microsoft Office (CVE-2012-0158)
2 passages name itOriginal (opens in a new tab) ↗
Microsoft Security
CVE-2012-0158 is a remote code execution in Windows Common Controls…
2 passages name itOriginal (opens in a new tab) ↗
TheNaikonAPT MsnMM1
…compromised victim systems using common spear-phishing techniques, such as cve- 2012-0158 exploit attachments, attachments altered with RTLO techniques, and a com-…
5 passages name itOriginal (opens in a new tab) ↗
Operation Transparent Title
…get additional colonels posts Link: hxxp://intribune.blogspot[.]com/2015/11/army-air-defenceengineers-and-signal-to.html Malicious Document Location: hxxp://birthdaywisheszone[.]com/pml/army-air-defenceengineers-and-signal.doc Document: 68773f362d5ab4897d4ca217a9f53975 Type: Exploit,CVE-2012-0158,Embedded…
3 passages name itOriginal (opens in a new tab) ↗
MONSOON – ANALYSIS OF AN APT CAMPAIGN
We have seen this dropped by an RTF exploiting CVE-2012-0158…
2 passages name itOriginal (opens in a new tab) ↗
Aoqin Dragon | Newly-Discovered Chinese-linked APT Has Been Quietly Spying On Organizations For 10 Years
During 2012 to 2015, Aoqin Dragon relied heavily on CVE-2012-0158 and CVE-2010-3333 to compromise their targets.
Operation Cloud Hopper: Technical Annex
Taiwan president election watching group schedule”.2 Once the spreadsheet is opened, CVE- 2012-0158 is exploited and a file called 6EC5.tmp is dropped in the %TEMP% folder.
Operation Tropic Trooper: Relying on Tried-and-Tested Flaws to Infiltrate Secret Keepers
Mentions the CVE; no further detail.
Microsoft Security
Mentions the CVE; no further detail.
REPORT ON THE INVESTIGATION INTO THE MALWARE-AS-A-SERVICE
Mentions the CVE; no further detail.
Also mentioned in 50 community threat pulses (AlienVault OTX)
Weaker evidencePulses are indicator collections that anyone can publish. A mention is not confirmation of exploitation.
- Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 29, 202628 Oct 2026
- Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 28, 202627 Oct 2026
- Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 27, 202626 Oct 2026
- Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 24, 202623 Oct 2026
- Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 23, 202622 Oct 2026
- Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 22, 202621 Oct 2026
- 44 more on OTX