Internet Explorer Memory Corruption 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.
A remote code execution vulnerability exists when Internet Explorer improperly accesses objects in memory, aka "Internet Explorer Memory Corruption Vulnerability." This CVE ID is unique from CVE-2017-0226.
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.
Temporarily mitigate risk by enforcing the use of alternative, more secure web browsers for daily tasks and disabling Internet Explorer via Group Policy where feasible. Deploy exploit protection tools like EMET or Windows Defender Exploit Guard on endpoints to make exploitation more difficult. Implement network-level controls to block untrusted active content and ensure robust endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions are monitoring for anomalous process behavior.
The permanent resolution is to apply the security updates released by Microsoft for Internet Explorer via Windows Update. These patches address the specific memory corruption flaws, preventing improper object access and subsequent remote code execution. Verify that all affected versions of Internet Explorer on Windows operating systems are updated to the latest available patch level.
An attacker could exploit this memory corruption vulnerability in Internet Explorer to execute arbitrary code with the same privileges as the logged-on user. This would allow them to take complete control of the affected system, potentially leading to data exfiltration, installation of malicious software, or lateral movement within the network. The business consequences include severe data breaches, significant operational disruption, and severe reputational damage.
Other CVEs affecting internet explorer
Use-after-free vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player before 13.0.0.269 and 14.x through 16.x before 16.0.0.305 on Windows and OS X and before 11.2.202.442 on Linux allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors, as exploited in the wild in February 2015, a different vulnerability than CVE-2015-0315, CVE-2015-0320, and CVE-2015-0322.
Unspecified vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player through 13.0.0.262 and 14.x, 15.x, and 16.x through 16.0.0.287 on Windows and OS X and through 11.2.202.438 on Linux allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via unknown vectors, as exploited in the wild in January 2015.
Use-after-free vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 through 11 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via vectors related to the CMarkup::IsConnectedToPrimaryMarkup function, as exploited in the wild in April 2014. NOTE: this issue originally emphasized VGX.DLL, but Microsoft clarified that "VGX.DLL does not contain the vulnerable code leveraged in this exploit. Disabling VGX.DLL is an exploit-specific workaround that provides an immediate, effective workaround to help block known attacks."
Internet Explorer Memory Corruption 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.
An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when Internet Explorer does not properly enforce cross-domain policies, which could allow an attacker to access information from one domain and inject it into another domain, aka "Internet Explorer Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability."
Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 through 11 allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via a crafted web site, aka "Internet Explorer Memory Corruption Vulnerability." This vulnerability is different from those described in CVE-2017-0018 and CVE-2017-0037.