MSCOMCTL.OCX ActiveX Controls Remote Code Execution
Actively exploited in the wild. Patch or mitigate immediately — don't wait for a maintenance window.
An unauthenticated attacker, remotely over the network, if a user is tricked into opening a malicious file or link, can fully compromise the system — steal data, tamper with it and take it offline.
The (1) ListView, (2) ListView2, (3) TreeView, and (4) TreeView2 ActiveX controls in MSCOMCTL.OCX in the Common Controls in Microsoft Office 2003 SP3, 2007 SP2 and SP3, and 2010 Gold and SP1; Office 2003 Web Components SP3; SQL Server 2000 SP4, 2005 SP4, and 2008 SP2, SP3, and R2; BizTalk Server 2002 SP1; Commerce Server 2002 SP4, 2007 SP2, and 2009 Gold and R2; Visual FoxPro 8.0 SP1 and 9.0 SP2; and Visual Basic 6.0 Runtime allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted (a) web site, (b) Office document, or (c) .rtf file that triggers "system state" corruption, as exploited in the wild in April 2012, aka "MSCOMCTL.OCX RCE Vulnerability."
Inferred from the weakness type (CWE) and how the flaw is reached — the techniques an attacker would chain to exploit this. Real-world corroboration appears here as threat intel is folded in.
Corroborated threat activity referencing this CVE — with source and confidence, not inference.
Named threat actors and observed ATT&CK techniques appear here as intel feeds are folded in — the ATT&CK chain above stays inferred until then.
Generated by Wavense from the CVE record — an immediate mitigation and the permanent fix.
As an interim measure, administrators should configure browsers and Office applications to disable or prompt before running ActiveX controls, particularly for untrusted sources, via Group Policy. Implement robust email and web content filtering to block malicious documents and URLs attempting to exploit this vulnerability. Enhance monitoring for unusual process activity originating from common Office applications or web browsers.
The permanent resolution involves applying the security updates released by Microsoft as part of bulletin MS12-027. This update addresses the flaw in MSCOMCTL.OCX across all affected products, including various versions of Microsoft Office, SQL Server, BizTalk, Commerce Server, Visual FoxPro, and Visual Basic 6.0 Runtime. Ensure all relevant systems are patched promptly and maintain a regular patch management cycle to prevent similar future compromises.
This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on a user's system by tricking them into opening a crafted Office document, .rtf file, or visiting a malicious website. Successful exploitation grants the attacker full control over the compromised machine, enabling data theft, installation of malware, and potential lateral movement within the network, leading to significant data breaches or operational disruption.
Other CVEs affecting biztalk server
Microsoft Outlook Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Microsoft Excel software when the software fails to properly handle objects in memory, aka 'Microsoft Excel Remote Code Execution Vulnerability'.
A remote code execution vulnerability exists in the way that the MSHTML engine inproperly validates input, aka "MSHTML Engine Remote Code Execution Vulnerability." This affects Microsoft Office, Microsoft Office Word Viewer, Internet Explorer 9, Internet Explorer 11, Microsoft Excel Viewer, Internet Explorer 10, Office 365 ProPlus.
Equation Editor in Microsoft Office 2007, Microsoft Office 2010, Microsoft Office 2013, and Microsoft Office 2016 allows a remote code execution vulnerability due to the way objects are handled in memory, aka "Microsoft Office Memory Corruption Vulnerability".
Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 SP3, Word 2007 SP3, PowerPoint 2010 SP2, Word 2010 SP2, PowerPoint 2013 SP1, Word 2013 SP1, and PowerPoint 2013 RT SP1 allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via a crafted Office document, aka "Microsoft Office Memory Corruption Vulnerability."
Microsoft Office 2013 SP1 and 2013 RT SP1 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted Office document, aka "Microsoft Office Uninitialized Memory Use Vulnerability."
The TabStrip ActiveX control in the Common Controls in MSCOMCTL.OCX in Microsoft Office 2003 SP3, Office 2003 Web Components SP3, Office 2007 SP2 and SP3, Office 2010 SP1, SQL Server 2000 SP4, SQL Server 2005 SP4, SQL Server 2008 SP2, SP3, R2, R2 SP1, and R2 SP2, Commerce Server 2002 SP4, Commerce Server 2007 SP2, Commerce Server 2009 Gold and R2, Host Integration Server 2004 SP1, Visual FoxPro 8.0 SP1, Visual FoxPro 9.0 SP2, and Visual Basic 6.0 Runtime allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted (1) document or (2) web page that triggers system-state corruption, aka "MSCOMCTL.OCX RCE Vulnerability."
Microsoft Office Excel 2000 SP3, 2002 SP3, 2003 SP3, and 2007 SP1; Excel Viewer 2003 Gold and SP3; Excel Viewer; Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats SP1; and Excel in Microsoft Office 2004 and 2008 for Mac allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted Excel document that triggers an access attempt on an invalid object, as exploited in the wild in February 2009 by Trojan.Mdropper.AC.