Microsoft Windows XP explorer.exe .ShellClassInfo memory corruption

CVSS Meta Temp Score
CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.
Current Exploit Price (≈)
Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.
CTI Interest Score
Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
7.9$0-$5k0.00

A vulnerability was found in Microsoft Windows XP (Operating System). It has been rated as critical. Affected by this issue is an unknown part of the file explorer.exe. The manipulation of the argument .ShellClassInfo with an unknown input leads to a memory corruption vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-119. The product performs operations on a memory buffer, but it can read from or write to a memory location that is outside of the intended boundary of the buffer. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

Buffer overflow in EXPLORER.EXE on Windows XP allows attackers to execute arbitrary code as the XP user via a desktop.ini file with a long .ShellClassInfo parameter.

The weakness was disclosed 05/07/2003 as MS03-027 as confirmed bulletin (Technet). The advisory is shared for download at microsoft.com. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2003-0306. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack needs to be approached locally. A simple authentication is necessary for exploitation. Technical details as well as a public exploit are known.

The exploit is available at exploit-db.com. It is declared as proof-of-concept. As 0-day the estimated underground price was around $25k-$100k. The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 11792 (MS03-027: Buffer overrun in Windows Shell (821557)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment. It is assigned to the family Windows : Microsoft Bulletins.

Applying the patch MS03-027 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at microsoft.com. Furthermore it is possible to detect and prevent this kind of attack with TippingPoint and the filter 2259.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at X-Force (12442), Exploit-DB (32), Tenable (11792), SecurityFocus (BID 8208†) and OSVDB (13409†). The entry VDB-179 is pretty similar. If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.

Productinfo

Type

Vendor

Name

Version

License

Support

  • end of life (old version)

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 8.8
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 7.9

VulDB Base Score: 8.8
VulDB Temp Score: 7.9
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
VectorComplexityAuthenticationConfidentialityIntegrityAvailability
unlockunlockunlockunlockunlockunlock
unlockunlockunlockunlockunlockunlock
unlockunlockunlockunlockunlockunlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔍
VulDB Temp Score: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Memory corruption
CWE: CWE-119
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Local: Yes
Remote: No

Availability: 🔍
Access: Public
Status: Proof-of-Concept
Download: 🔍

EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

0-Dayunlockunlockunlockunlock
Todayunlockunlockunlockunlock

Nessus ID: 11792
Nessus Name: MS03-027: Buffer overrun in Windows Shell (821557)
Nessus File: 🔍
Nessus Risk: 🔍
Nessus Family: 🔍

Exploit-DB: 🔍

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Patch
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔍

Patch: MS03-027
TippingPoint: 🔍

McAfee IPS: 🔍
McAfee IPS Version: 🔍

Timelineinfo

05/07/2003 🔍
05/15/2003 +7 days 🔍
06/09/2003 +25 days 🔍
06/09/2003 +0 days 🔍
07/17/2003 +38 days 🔍
09/07/2003 +52 days 🔍
04/09/2004 +214 days 🔍
08/11/2014 +3776 days 🔍
02/16/2025 +3842 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: microsoft.com
Product: microsoft.com

Advisory: MS03-027
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2003-0306 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2003-0306
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-20492

OVAL: 🔍

X-Force: 12442
SecurityFocus: 8208
OSVDB: 13409 - Microsoft Windows XP EXPLORER.EXE desktop.ini .ShellClassInfo Parameter Overflow
Vulnerability Center: 1963 - [MS03-027] Buffer Overflow in Explorer.exe on Windows XP Allows Arbitrary Code Execution as XP User, Medium

scip Labs: https://www.scip.ch/en/?labs.20161013
See also: 🔍

Entryinfo

Created: 08/12/2014 12:49 AM
Updated: 02/16/2025 02:41 AM
Changes: 08/12/2014 12:49 AM (70), 04/07/2017 04:03 PM (7), 06/28/2021 02:57 PM (2), 06/28/2021 03:00 PM (1), 02/16/2025 02:41 AM (14)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 18:80B:40

Discussion

No comments yet. Languages: en.

Please log in to comment.

◂ PreviousOverviewNext ▸

Want to stay up to date on a daily basis?

Enable the mail alert feature now!