Vulnerability Note VU#725596

Microsoft WMI Administrative Tools WBEMSingleView.ocx ActiveX control vulnerability

Original Release date: 22 Dec 2010 | Last revised: 22 Dec 2010

Overview

The ActiveX control, WBEMSingleView.ocx, that is a part of the WMI Administrative Tools package contains a vulnerability.

Description

The AddContextRef() and ReleaseContext() functions of the WMI Object Viewer control can be passed an object pointer from an attacker that results in arbitrary code execution. An Internet Explorer user with WBEMSingleView.ocx installed can be exploited by visiting a malicious web page.

Impact

An attacker can execute arbitrary code as the user.

Solution

We are currently unaware of a practical solution to this problem.

Disable the WMI Object Viewer ActiveX control in Internet Explorer

The vulnerable ActiveX control can be disabled in Internet Explorer by setting the kill bit for the following CLSID:

    {2745E5F5-D234-11D0-847A-00C04FD7BB08}

More information about how to set the kill bit is available in Microsoft Support Document 240797. Alternatively, the following text can be saved as a .REG file and imported to set the kill bit for this control:
    Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\ActiveX Compatibility\{2745E5F5-D234-11D0-847A-00C04FD7BB08}]
    "Compatibility Flags"=dword:00000400
    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\ActiveX Compatibility\{2745E5F5-D234-11D0-847A-00C04FD7BB08}]
    "Compatibility Flags"=dword:00000400
Disable ActiveX

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

Vendor Information (Learn More)

VendorStatusDate NotifiedDate Updated
Microsoft CorporationAffected-22 Dec 2010
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 publicly disclosed on WooYun.org.

This document was written by Jared Allar.

Other Information

  • CVE IDs: Unknown
  • Date Public: 22 Dec 2010
  • Date First Published: 22 Dec 2010
  • Date Last Updated: 22 Dec 2010
  • Severity Metric: 3.94
  • Document Revision: 13

Feedback

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