Vulnerability Note VU#585123

Microsoft Internet Explorer executes script code in cookies in the Local Computer zone

Overview

Microsoft Internet Explorer contains a serious vulnerability in its handling of zone determination.

I. Description

Microsoft Internet Explorer contains a vulnerability in the way in which it handles zone determination. Specifically, HTML scripts stored in cookies should be executed in the same zone (typically the "Internet Zone") as the site hosting the cookie. As a result of this vulnerability, a script embedded in a cookie can be executed in the Local Computer zone of the victim's machine. This places systems at risk because the security policies of the "Local Computer Zone" are typically more permissive than those of the "Internet Zone." Viewing a malicious HTML document such as a web page or HTML formatted email message can allow arbitrary commands to be executed on the victim's machine.

II. Impact

An attacker can execute arbitrary commands on the target system with the privileges of the victim.

III. Solution

Apply vendor patches available from http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/downloads/critical/Q319182/default.asp.

Systems Affected

Vendor	Status	Date Notified	Date Updated
Microsoft Corporation	Vulnerable	29-Mar-2002

References

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS02-015.asp

Credit

The CERT/CC thanks Microsoft for the information contained in MS02-015.

This document was written by Ian A. Finlay.

Other Information

Date Public:	2002-03-29
Date First Published:	2002-03-29
Date Last Updated:	2002-03-29
CERT Advisory:
CVE-ID(s):	CAN-2002-0078
NVD-ID(s):	CAN-2002-0078
US-CERT Technical Alerts:
Metric:	35.64
Document Revision:	11

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