In this work, the distinctions in the synergistic effects between carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and different metal oxide (MeO) nanoparticles on enhancing the thermal oxidative stability of silicone rubber (SR) were studied in depth. Specifically, three kinds of MeO nanoparticles were attached onto the surface of CNTs, obtaining Fe2O3–CNTs, TiO2–CNTs, and SnO2–CNTs, respectively. These MeO nanoparticles-attached CNTs were then separately embedded into SR matrix to investigate their effect on the thermal oxidative stability of SR. The results indicated that different synergies between CNTs and different metal oxides existed: both Fe2O3 and SnO2 had positive synergistic effects with CNTs, while a negative synergic effect existed between TiO2 and CNTs. This phenomenon may be attributed to the fact that the existence of CNTs could promote the radical-capture reactions to some extent for Fe and Sn element, while a reverse trend was found in TiO2–CNTs/SR. Meanwhile, all the performances of SnO2–CNTs/SR exhibited a much higher positive synergy than those of Fe2O3–CNTs/SR: the synergy percentages of the tear strength and elongation at break for SnO2–CNTs/SR were even above 100 %. This result may be ascribed to the combined effect of the multi-electron transfer process in SnO2–CNTs/SR and the restriction of crystalline form of Fe2O3 in Fe2O3–CNTs/SR during thermal aging.