Title: Microsoft Internet Explorer Patch Q312461 Existence Vulnerability
Severity: MODERATE
Description:
The HTTP_USER_AGENT variable gets passed between a web browser and a web server each time a web page is requested by a program. The variable contains the user agent name along with operating system information.
Microsoft Internet Explorer patch Q312461 is a cumulative patch that was released in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS01-055.
An issue exists with Microsoft Internet Explorer patch Q312461 which, when installed, will reveal its existence in the HTTP_USER_AGENT variable. For example: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.0; Q312461).
This issue will enable attackers to locate users that have not patched their systems against two previously discovered IE vulnerabilities. Both vulnerabilities could allow an attacker to display or modify the cookie information associated with an arbitrary website.
Gaining this information will assist an attacker in performing attacks against unpatched web browsers.
Affected Products:
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 SP1
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 SP2
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0
- Microsoft Windows ME
- 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
References:
- Microsoft: Microsoft Security Bulletin MS01-055
- SUZUKI, Kazuhiro: SUZUKI, Kazuhiro's initial report (Japanese)
- SecurityFocus: Microsoft Internet Explorer Cookie Disclosure Vulnerability
- SecurityFocus: Microsoft Internet Explorer Cookie Disclosure/Modification Vulnerability
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