CVE-2010-10015

Description

AOL versions up to and including 9.5 includes an ActiveX control (Phobos.dll) that exposes a method called Import() via the Phobos.Playlist COM object. This method is vulnerable to a stack-based buffer overflow when provided with an excessively long string argument. Exploitation allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code in the context of the user, but only when the malicious HTML file is opened locally, due to the control not being marked safe for scripting or initialization. AOL remains an active and supported brand offering services like AOL Mail and AOL Desktop Gold, but the legacy AOL 9.5 desktop software—specifically the version containing the vulnerable Phobos.dll ActiveX control—is long discontinued and no longer maintained.

PUBLISHED Reserved 2025-08-21 | Published 2025-08-21 | Updated 2025-08-22 | Assigner VulnCheck

Problem types

CWE-121 Stack-based Buffer Overflow

Product status

Credits

Hellcode Research finder

References

web.archive.org/...01/25/aol-playlist-class-buffer-overflow/ technical-description exploit

raw.githubusercontent.com/...ws/fileformat/aol_phobos_bof.rb exploit

www.exploit-db.com/exploits/11204 exploit

www.broadcom.com/...enter/attacksignatures/detail?asid=26569 third-party-advisory

www.fortiguard.com/...activex-control-import-buffer-overflow third-party-advisory

appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId=20354 product

www.exploit-db.com/exploits/11190 exploit

www.vulncheck.com/...list-import-stack-based-buffer-overflow third-party-advisory

cve.org (CVE-2010-10015)

nvd.nist.gov (CVE-2010-10015)

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