Title: Microsoft Internet Explorer Double Backslash CHM File Execution Weakness
Severity: HIGH
Description:
A vulnerability has been reported in Microsoft Internet Explorer that may permit unauthorized execution of locally stored compiled help files (.CHM).
This issue reportedly permits a web page within the Internet Security Zone to execute .CHM files that are stored on the local system. Due to restrictions implemented in previous security updates, this type of access should only be permitted from the Local Zone.
This vulnerability has been demonstrated using the showHelp() method to reference a local .CHM file, in a manner similar to the vulnerability described in BID 9320. It is possible that there are other means of demonstrating this behavior. It should also be noted that this issue could also be used to cause HTML pages embedded in .CHM files to be interpreted in the Local Zone.
This issue could be exploited with other existing vulnerabilities, such as BID 9658 to execute arbitrary code on the system. Exploitation would require the attacker to place a malicious .CHM file on the system through exploitation of other issues and then execute it through exploitation of this issue.
Note: This BID was created because further research has determined it to be a distinct issue from the vulnerability described in 10344. The primary difference is that BID 10344 allows execution of files from the Local Zone only, while this issue permits a remote web page to directly reference a .CHM file stored on a client system from the Internet Zone. BID 10344 describes an issue that permits unauthorized access to local resources via CODEBASE.
Affected Products:
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1
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