Microsoft Internet Explorer writing-mode Memory Corruption Vulnerability

October 13th, 2009
ZDI-09-071 ZDI-CAN-494

CVE ID

CVE-2009-2531

CVSS Score

None None

Affected Vendors

Microsoft

Affected Products

Internet Explorer 6
Internet Explorer 7
Internet Explorer 8

Vulnerability Details

This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on vulnerable installations of Microsoft Internet Explorer. User interaction is required in that a user must visit a malicious web page.

The specific flaw exists in the parsing of CSS style information. When a writing-mode style is used with a specific combination of HTML tags, memory corruption occurs. Exploitation of this vulnerability will lead to remote system compromise under the credentials of the currently logged in user.

Additional Details

Microsoft has issued an update to correct this vulnerability. More details can be found at:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms09-054.mspx

Disclosure Timeline

  • 2009-06-23 - Vulnerability reported to vendor
  • 2009-10-13 - Coordinated public release of advisory

Credit

Sam Thomas of eshu.co.uk

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