CVE-2009-1537
Unspecified vulnerability in the QuickTime Movie Parser Filter in quartz.dll in DirectShow in Microsoft DirectX 7.0 through 9.0c on Windows 2000 SP4, Windows XP SP2 and SP3, and Windows Server 2003 SP2 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted QuickTime media file, as exploited in the wild in May 2009, aka "DirectX NULL Byte Overwrite Vulnerability."
do firstApply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
Can a WAF block it? No. The vulnerability is triggered by opening a specially crafted QuickTime media file on the affected system, which requires local access or user interaction to open the file. This is not delivered via HTTP requests, so a web application firewall cannot filter or block the attack.
Also consider: patch
Based on an AI reading of the CVE description, and no vendor rule found yet. We check Cloudflare, AWS, Google Cloud Armor and Azure; for Akamai, Imperva, Fastly, F5, ask your vendor.
Is CVE-2009-1537 being exploited?
Yes. CVE-2009-1537 appears in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which means exploitation in the wild has been confirmed and reported. Treat it as active rather than theoretical, and patch it ahead of higher-scoring vulnerabilities that carry no exploitation evidence.
How severe is CVE-2009-1537?
CVE-2009-1537 is rated High with a CVSS score of 8.8. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.
Is there a patch for CVE-2009-1537?
Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2009-1537. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.
What does CVE-2009-1537 affect?
CVE-2009-1537 affects microsoft:directx, microsoft:windows_2000, microsoft:windows_2003_server, microsoft:windows_server_2003, and 1 further product or version. Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.
Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.
cisa ssvc
- exploitation
- active
- automatable
- no
- technical impact
- total
Assessed by CISA 20 May 2026 (SSVC 2.0.3).
timeline
- 29 May 2009Published
- 20 May 2026Added to CISA KEV (exploited in the wild) · 6,199 days (about 17 years) later
- 20 May 2026CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation active · same day later
- 21 May 2026CVE record last updated · 1 day later
- 3 Jun 2026CISA remediation due date (US federal agencies) · 13 days later
- 2 Nov 2026Analysed by vulneraibility.com · 153 days (about 5 months) later
- Advisorydocs.microsoft.com /en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2009/ms09-028
- Advisorysecunia.com /advisories/35268
- Advisoryus-cert.gov /cas/techalerts/TA09-195A.html
- Linkblogs.technet.com /srd/archive/2009/05/28/new-vulnerability-in-quicktime-parsing.aspx
- Linkoval.cisecurity.org /repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A6237
- Linksecuritytracker.com /id?1022299
- Linkvupen.com /english/advisories/2009/1886
- Linkvupen.com /english/advisories/2009/1445
Show 6 more
- Linkosvdb.org /54797
- Linksecurityfocus.com /bid/35139
- Linkisc.sans.org /diary.html?storyid=6481
- Linkmicrosoft.com /technet/security/advisory/971778.mspx
- Linkblogs.technet.com /msrc/archive/2009/05/28/microsoft-security-advisory-971778-vulnerability-in-mic
- Linkcisa.gov /known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2009-1537
sources
- CVE List (CVE.org): description, affected versions, references; CVE Terms of Use
- NVD: CVSS and CPE data
- CISA KEV catalog: exploitation, date added, due date
- CISA Vulnrichment (ADP): SSVC decision points
- FIRST EPSS: exploit probability and percentile
- Summary, impact and triage tags: written by our AI analysis pipeline from the sources above. Check them against the sources.