Title: Microsoft Internet Explorer mms Protocol Handler Executable Command Line Injection Vulnerability
Severity: MODERATE
Description:
A vulnerability has been reported to exist in Microsoft Internet Explorer that may allow remote attackers to pass arbitrary command line arguments to an application associated with the mms: URI protocol handler. Windows Media Player is the application normally associated with this URI protocol handler. This may be exploited from a malicious Web page or possibly through HTML email.
Protocol handlers for applications on Microsoft Windows are typically defined in the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT key. It is possible to associate a local executable with the URI protocol handler that will be invoked when the Web browser or another component loads a URI.
The specific issue is that an attacker may pass command line arguments directly to the executable that is invoked when the URI is loaded. Normally, Windows Media Player will be invoked with the following arguments when an mms: URI is loaded:
C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player\wmplayer.exe" "%L"
However, by including a URL-encoded space character (%20) in the mms: URI, it is possible to append addition parameters to the invocation arguments for the executable.
This vulnerability would permit an attacker to influence the invocation arguments for the executable and could result in loss or compromise of various security properties. This may be exploited from a malicious Web page or possibly through HTML email.
It is not known if this issue is specific to the mms: URI protocol handler or if other URI protocol handlers on the system may be similarly affected. This vulnerability could be a general issue in Internet Explorer with many possible attack vectors, although there is not enough information available at this time to make this determination. If this is the case, the consequences could vary depending on the targeted protocol handler and underlying application. Successful exploitation would also be highly dependant on the underlying executable and the actions that the URI protocol handler is normally configured to perform. This BID will be updated as further information is made available.
Affected Products:
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1
- Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition
- Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition Itanium
- Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition
- Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition Itanium
- Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition
- Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Web Edition
- Microsoft Windows XP Home
- Microsoft Windows XP Professional
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