Vulnerability Note VU#434641

Microsoft Internet Explorer may automatically execute HTA files

Overview

Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) fails to properly handle HTA files. This vulnerability may allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code.

I. Description

HTML Application (HTA)

HTML Applications (HTAs) are HTML documents that are executed as trusted applications. HTAs can run script, Java, or ActiveX controls.

The Problem

An error in the way that IE handles HTAs may allow a remote attacker to bypass IE's Security checks and execute an HTA application without a user's consent.

Considerations

More information is available in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS06-013.

II. Impact

If a remote attacker can persuade a user to access a specially crafted HTML page, that attacker may be able to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the compromised user.

III. Solution

Apply an Update

This issue is addressed in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS06-013.

Refer to Microsoft Security Bulletin MS06-013 for workarounds for this vulnerability.

Systems Affected

Vendor	Status	Date Notified	Date Updated
Microsoft Corporation	Vulnerable	11-Apr-2006

References

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/Bulletin/MS06-013.mspx
http://jeffrey.vanderstad.net/grasshopper/
http://secunia.com/advisories/19378/
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/17181

Credit

This vulnerability was reported by Jeffrey van der Stad.

This document was written by Jeff Gennari

Other Information

Date Public:	2006-03-27
Date First Published:	2006-04-11
Date Last Updated:	2006-04-12
CERT Advisory:
CVE-ID(s):	CVE-2006-1388
NVD-ID(s):	CVE-2006-1388
US-CERT Technical Alerts:
Metric:	25.50
Document Revision:	12

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Produced 2006 by US-CERT, a government organization
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