Hazard

Is CVE-2016-0185 being exploited?

Weaponised and widely attempted

Reliable public exploit code exists, or mass exploitation attempts are probable. Patch inside days, not weeks.

Microsoft Windows Media Center Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Microsoft · Windows

CVSS 7.8 EPSS 70% 1 public exploit Fix deadline passed 3 May 2022

What it is

Microsoft Windows Media Center contains a remote code execution vulnerability when Windows Media Center opens a specially crafted Media Center link (.mcl) file that references malicious code.

Why we say that

  • EPSS puts exploitation in the next 30 days at 70%
  • 1 public exploit published
  • CISA's federal remediation deadline (2022-05-03) has passed
  • Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue

Every line above comes from a named public source. Where the evidence is thin, we say so rather than inventing confidence — see methodology.

What to do

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Public exploit code

Indexed from Exploit-DB. Presence of code raises urgency; absence does not mean safety.

What it costs when this goes wrong

This is where UK enforcement meets the vulnerability record. Where an unfixed vulnerability leads to a breach, the ICO treats it as a security failure under UK GDPR. Recent cases:

All UK cases caused by unpatched software →