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CVE-2004-0978

46
FAUCET Score

CVE-2004-0978 describes a critical heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability in the Hrtbeat.ocx (Heartbeat) ActiveX control, affecting Internet Explorer versions 5.01 through 6 and various Windows operating systems. This flaw allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code with maximum impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability, requiring no authentication and low attack complexity. Despite its critical CVSS score of 10.0 and high FAUCET Risk Score, there is no evidence of active exploitation, publicly available exploit code, or significant community discussion.

Impacted Technologies

VendorProductVersion(s)CPE
5.01CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:internet_explorer:5.01:sp3:*:*:*:*:*:*
5.01CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:internet_explorer:5.01:sp4:*:*:*:*:*:*
5.5CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:internet_explorer:5.5:sp2:*:*:*:*:*:*
6CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:internet_explorer:6:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
6CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:internet_explorer:6:sp1:*:*:*:*:*:*

CVSS Data

CVSS version used by this source: 2.0

10.0HIGH

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Confidentiality Impact
COMPLETE
Integrity Impact
COMPLETE
Availability Impact
COMPLETE
Access Vector
NETWORK
Access Complexity
LOW
Authentication
NONE
Exploitability Score
10.0
Impact Score
10.0
CvssVersion
2.0

Exploit Intelligence

EPSS Score
38.31%
Probability of exploitation in next 30 days
EPSS Percentile
98.4%
Percentile rank of EPSS score among Peer Group
As of 2026-07-28
Model: v2026.06.15
This CVE's current EPSS score of 0.3831 is in the 97th percentile among its peer group of 51,553 CVEs.

Social Chatter

The average CVE in this peer group has 0.0 Twitter, 0.0 Reddit, 0.1 Bluesky, 0.1 Mastodon, and 0.4 GitHub mentions.

Media Mentions

No media coverage found for this CVE.

The average CVE in this peer group has 0.1 InfoSec Media, 0.0 Vendor Blog, and 0.0 Security Researcher mentions.

Remediation

Remediation records are not available for this CVE.

References

marc.info
Issue TrackingThird Party Advisory
docs.microsoft.com / en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2004/ms04-038
PatchVendor Advisory
exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com / vulnerabilities/17714
Third Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
kb.cert.org / vuls/id/673134
Third Party AdvisoryUS Government Resource
ngssoftware.com / advisories/heartbeatfull.txt
Broken Link
securityfocus.com / bid/11367
Third Party AdvisoryVDB Entry