Vulnerability Note VU#347448

Microsoft Internet Explorer fails to properly handle malformed DHTML script function calls

Original Release date: 12 Dec 2006 | Last revised: 12 Dec 2006

Overview

A vulnerability in the way Microsoft Internet Explorer handles malformed DHTML script function calls may allow a remote, unauthenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code.

Description

According to Microsoft Security Bulletin MS06-072:

    When Internet Explorer interprets certain DHTML script function calls to incorrectly created elements it may corrupt system memory in such a way that an attacker could execute arbitrary code.

By convincing a user to view a specially crafted HTML document (e.g., a web page or an HTML email message or attachment), an attacker may be able to trigger this vulnerability.

Impact

A remote, unauthenticated attacker may be able to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the compromised user. The attacker could also cause Internet Explorer to crash.  

Solution

Apply an update from Microsoft
Microsoft has addressed this issue with the updates included with Microsoft Security Bulletin MS06-072.

Do not follow unsolicited links

In order to convince users to visit their sites, attackers often use URL encoding, IP address variations, long URLs, intentional misspellings, and other techniques to create misleading links. Do not click on unsolicited links received in email, instant messages, web forums, or internet relay chat (IRC) channels. Type URLs directly into the browser to avoid these misleading links. While these are generally good security practices, following these behaviors will not prevent exploitation of this vulnerability in all cases, particularly if a trusted site has been compromised or allows cross-site scripting.

Disable Active scripting

Disabling Active scripting in the Internet Zone (or any zone used by an attacker) appears to prevent exploitation of this vulnerability. Instructions for disabling Active scripting in the Internet Zone can be found in the "Securing Your Web Browser" document.

Systems Affected (Learn More)

VendorStatusDate NotifiedDate Updated
Microsoft CorporationAffected-12 Dec 2006
If you are a vendor and your product is affected, let us know.

CVSS Metrics (Learn More)

Group Score Vector
Base N/A N/A
Temporal N/A N/A
Environmental N/A N/A

References

Credit

This vulnerability was reported in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS06-072. Microsoft credits Sam Thomas, working with TippingPoint and the Zero Day Initiative, for providing information about this issue.

This document was written by Jeff Gennari based on information from Microsoft.

Other Information

  • CVE IDs: CVE-2006-5581
  • Date Public: 12 Dec 2006
  • Date First Published: 12 Dec 2006
  • Date Last Updated: 12 Dec 2006
  • Severity Metric: 14.63
  • Document Revision: 8

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